THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

BEQUEST 
OF 

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THE  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  WOMEN:  Moral,  Po- 
etical, AND  Historical. 

THE  DIARY  OF  AN  ENNUYEE. 

MEMOIRS  OF  THE  LOVES  OF  THE  POETS.  Bio- 
graphical Sketches  of  Women  celebrated  in  Ancient  and  Mod- 
em Poetry. 

STUDIES,  STORIES,  AND  MEMOIRS. 

SKETCHES  OF  ART,  LITERATURE,  AND  CHAR- 
ACTER. With  a  Steel  Engraving  of  Raphael's  Madonna  del 
San  Sisto. 

MEMOIRS    OF    THE    EARLY    ITALIAN    PAINTERS 

(Cimabue  to  Bassano). 

LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA  as  represented  in  ihe 
Fine  Arts. 

SACRED  AND  LEGENDARY  ART.    In  two  volumes. 

LEGENDS  OF  THE  MONASTIC  ORDERS  as  repre- 
sented in  the  Fine  Arts.  Forming  the  Second  Seriet  j£  Sacred 
and  Legendary  Art. 

Each  volume,  z6mo,  $1.25 ;  the  ten  volumes,  in  box,  ^12.50;  half 
calf,  $25.00;  tree  calf,  ^^35.00. 


HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  &  CO.,  Publishers, 
Boston  and  New  York. 


LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA 

,^  AS 

REPRESENTED  IN  THE  FINE   ARTS 

BY 

MRS.  JAMESON 

Corrected  and  Enlarged  Edition 


BOSTON  AND   NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND  COMPANY 

1897 


^5^35S7 


lOAN  STACr 

6iFr 


1897 


CONTENTS. 

PUFAC^... • XTi 

IHTBODUCTioN  —  Origin  of  the  Worship  of  the  Ma- 
donna. Earliest  artistic  Representations.  Ori- 
gin of  the  Group  of  the  Virgin  and  Child  in  the 
Fifth  Oentnry.  The  First  Council  at  Ephesus. 
The  Iconoclasts.  First  Appearance  of  the  Effigy 
of  the  Virgin  on  Coins.  Period  of  Charlemagne. 
Period  of  the  Crusades.  Revival  of  Art  in  the 
Thirteenth  Century.  The  Fourteenth  Century. 
Influence  of  Dante.  The  Fifteenth  Century.  The 
Council  of  Constance  and  the  Hussite  Wars.  The 
Sixteenth  Century.  The  Luxury  of  Church  Pic- 
tures. The  Influence  of  Classical  Literature  on 
the  Representations  of  the  Virgin.  The  Seven- 
teenth Century.  Theological  Art.  Spanish  Art. 
Influence  of  Jesuitism  on  Art.  Authorities  fol- 
lowed by  Painters  in  the  earliest  Times.  Legend 
of  St.  Luke.  Character  of  the  Virgin  Mary  as 
drawn  in  the  Gospels.  Early  Descriptions  of  her 
Person;  how  far  attended  to  by  the  Painters. 
Poetical  Extracts  descriptive  of  the  Virgin  Mary      II 

Btmbolb  and  Attribxjtes  of  the  Vikgin.  Prop- 
er Costume  and  Colours 53 

DxYOTiONAL  Subjects  and  Historical  Subjects. 
Altar-pieces      The  Life  of  the  Virgin  Mary  at 


954 


IV  CONTENTS. 

treated  in  a  Series.  The  Seven  Joys  and  Seven 
Sorrows  as  a  Series.  Titles  of  the  Virgin,  aa  ex- 
pressed in  Pictures  and  Effigies.  Chorches  dedi- 
cated to  her.    Conclusion M 

BcrPLEMEKTABY  NOTES ^  .....  .      M 


DEVOTIONAL    SUBJECTS. 
Pabt  L 

THE  VIRGIN  WITHOUT   THE  CHILD. 

La  Vebgine  Gloriosa.  Earliest  Figures.  The  Mo- 
saics. The  Virgin  of  San  Venanzio.  The  Virgin 
of  Spoleto 9t 

The  Enthroned  Virgin  without  the  Child,  as  type  of 
heavenly  Wisdom.    Various  Examples 101 

L*  Incoronata,  the  Type  of  the  Church  triumphant. 
The  Virgin  crowned  by  her  Son.  Examples  from 
the  old  Mosaics.  Examples  of  the  Coronation  of 
the  Virgin  from  various  Painters 106 

The  VmoiN  of  Merct,  as  she  is  represented  in  tne 
Last  Judgment 128 

The  Vfrgin,  as  Dispenser  of  Mercy  on  Earth.  Various 
Examples 126 

The  Mater  Dolorosa  seated  and  standing,  with  the 
Seven  Swords 181 

rhe  Stahat  Mater,  the  Ideal  Pietk.  The  Votive  Pie- 
tk,  by  Guido 181 

Our  Ladt  op  the  Immaculate  Conception  Or- 
igin of  the  Subject.  History  of  the  Theological 
Dispute.  The  First  Papal  Decree  touching  the 
Immaculate  Conception.    The  Bull  of  Paul  V. 


CONTENTS.  V 

The  Popularity  of  the  Subject  in  Spain.,    Pic- 
tures  by  Guide,   by   Roelas,  Velasquez,    Mu- 

riUo 18'' 

•he  Predestination  of  the  Virgin.    Curious  Picture  by 
Cotignola 151 


Pabt  n. 

THE   VIRGIN   AND   CHILD. 

fHE  Virgin  and  Child  enthroned.  Virgo  Dt- 
ipcvra.  The  Virgin  in  her  Maternal  Character. 
Origin  of  the  Group  of  the  Mother  and  Child. 
Nestorian  Controversy IM 

The  Enthroned  Virgin  in  the  old  Mosaics.  In  early 
Italian  Art.  The  Virgin  standing  as  Regina 
Call 161 

La  Madre  Pia  enthroned.  Mater  Sapientm  with 
the  Book 170 

The  Virgin  and  Child  enthroned  with  attendant  Fig- 
ures; with  Angels;  with  Prophets;  with  Apos- 
tles  17« 

With  Saints:  John  the  Baptist;  St.  Anna;  St.  Joa- 
chim; St.  Joseph 181 

With  Martyrs  and  Patron  Saints 187 

Various  Examples  of  Arrangement.  With  the  Fa- 
thers of  the  Church;  with  St.  Jerome  and  St. 
Catherine;  with  the  Marriage  of  St.  Catherine. 
The  Virgin  and  Child  between  St.  Catherine  and 
St.  Barbara;  with  Mary  Magdalene;  with  St. 
Lucia 187 

fhe  Virgin  and  Child  between  St.  George  and  St. 
Nicholas;  with  St.  Christopher;  with  St  Leon- 
•rd.    The  Vkgin  of  Charity IM 


VI  CONTENTS. 

Pagt 

The  Madonnas  of  Florence;  of  Siena;  of  Venice  and 
Lombardj.    How  attended ,  200 

rhe  Virgin  attended  by  the  Monastic  Saints,  ^jcam- 
ples  from  various  Painters IMtt 

Votive  Madonnas.  For  Mercies  accorded:  for  Vic- 
tory; for  Deliverance  from  Pestilence;  against 
Flood  and  Fire 204 

Family  Votive  Madonnas.  Examples.  The  Madonna 
of  the  Bentivoglio  Family.  The  Madonna  of  the 
Sforza  Family.  The  Madonna  of  the  Meyer  Fam- 
ily. The  Madonna  di  Foligno.  German  Votive 
Madonna  at  Rouen.  Madonna  of  R^nd,  Duke  of 
Anjou ;  of  the  Pesaro  Family  at  Venice 218 

Half-length  Enthroned  Madonnas;  first  introduced 
by  the  Venetians.    Various  Examples 225 

The  Mateb  Amabilis.  Early  Greek  Examples. 
The  infinite  Variety  given  to  this  Subject 229 

Virgin  and  Child  with  St.  John.    He  takes  the  Cross  234 

The  Madrb  Pia  ;  the  Virgin  adores  her  Son 236 

Pastoral  Madonnas  of  the  Venetian  School 238 

Conclusion  of  the  Devotional  Subjects 244 


HISTORICAL  SUBJECTS. 
Paet  I. 

THE  LIFE    OF    THE    VIRGIN    FROM    HER    BIRT0 
TO   HER   MARRIAGE   WITH  JOSEPH. 

The  Legend  of  Joachim  and  Anna 246 

foacmm  rejected  from  the  Temole.  Joachim  herding 
his  Sheep  on  the  Mountain.  The  Altercation 
between  Anna  and  her  Maid  Judith.  The  Meet- 
mgattheGoldec  Gate 259 


CONTENTS.  YII? 

Pagi 
The  NATivr^T  of  the  Virgin.    The  Importance 

and  Beauty  of  the  Subject.    How  treated 258 

rH»  PRESEin'ATiON  OF  THE  ViRGiN.  A  Subject  of 
great  Importance.  General  Arrangement  and 
Treatment.    Various  Examples  from  celebrated 

Painters 261 

The  Virgm  in  the  Temple 260 

The  Marbiaob  op  the  Virgin.    The  Legend  as 

followed  by  the  Painters 260 

Various  Examples  of  the  Marriage  of  the  Virgin,  as 
treated  by  Perugino,  Raphael,  and  others 274 


Part  II. 
the  life  of  the  virgin  mary  from  thb 

ANNUNCIATION   TO   THE   RETURN   FROM 
EGYPT. 

The  Annunciation.  Its  Beauty  as  a  Subject 
Treated  as  a  Mystery  and  as  an  Event.  As  a 
Mystery;  not  earlier  than  the  Eleventh  Century. 
Its  proper  Place  in  architectural  Decoration.  On 
Altar-pieces.  As  an  Allegory.  The  Annuncia- 
tion as  expressing  the  Incarnation.  Ideally 
treated  with  Saints  and  Votaries.  Examples 
by  Simone  Memmi,  Fra  Bartolomeo,  Angelico, 
and  others 279 

The  Annimciati>n  as  an  Event.  The  appropriate 
Circumstances.  The  Time,  the  Locality,  the  Ac- 
cessories. The  Descent  of  the  Angel ;  proper  Cos- 
tume ;  with  the  Lily,  the  Palm,  the  Olive 29 J 

pjroper  Attitude  and  Occupation  of  Mary;  Expression 
and  Deportment.  The  Dove.  Mistakes.  Ex- 
amples from  various  Painters 2W 


Vm  CONTENTS. 

P^ 

Thb  Visitation.  Character  of  EHzabetn.  The  Lo- 
cality and  Circumstances.  Proper  Accessories. 
Examples  from  various  Painters 868 

The  Dream  op  Joseph.  He  entreats  Forgiveness  of 
Maiy Sll 

The  Nativity.  The  Prophecy  of  the  Sibyl.  La 
Madonna  del  Parto,  The  Nativity  as  a  Mystery; 
with  poetical  Accessories;  with  Saints  and  Vota- 
ries   314 

The  Nativity  as  an  Event.  The  Time;  the  Place: 
the  proper  Accessories  and  Circumstances;  the 
angelic  Choristers ;  Signification  of  the  Ox  and 
the  Ass 829 

The  Adobation  of  the  Shepherds 329 

The  Adoration  of  the  Magi;  they  are  supposed 
to  have  been  Kings.  Prophecy  of  Balaam.  The 
Appearance  of  the  Star.  The  Legend  of  the  three 
Kings  of  Cologne.  Proper  Accessories.  Exam- 
ples from  various  Painters.  The  Land  Surveyors, 
by  Giorgione 881 

The  Purification  of  the  Virgin.  The  Prophecy 
of  Simeon.  Greek  Legend  of  the  Nvnc  Dimittis, 
Various  Examples 848 

Ihb  Flight  into  Egypt.  The  Massacre  of  the  In- 
nocents. The  Preparation  for  the  Journey.  The 
Circumstances.  The  Legend  of  the  Robbers;  of 
thePahn 8M 

The  Repose  of  the  Holy  Family.  The  Sub- 
ject often  mistaken.  Proper  Treatment  of  the 
Group.  The  Repose  at  Matarea.  The  Ministry 
of  Angels 864 

Thb  Legend  OF  the  Gypsy 870 

Thb  Ketubn  from  Egypt 871 


C017TEKT8 


Part  m. 

TBK  IJFE  OP  THE  VIKGIN  FROM  THE  SOJOUBK 
IN  EGYPT  TO  THE  CRUCIFIXION  OF  CUB 
LORD. 

Fagt 
The  Holy  Family.    Proper  Treatment  of  the  Do- 
mestic Group  as  distinguished  from  the  Devotion- 
al.   The  simplest  Form  that  of  the  Mother  and 
Child.    The  Child  fed  from  his  Mother's  Bosom. 

The  Infant  sleeps 877 

Holy  Family  of  three  Figures;   with  the  little  St. 

John;  with  St.  Joseph;  with  St.  Anna 387 

Holy  Family  of  four  Figures ;  with  St.  Elizabeth  and 

others 392 

The  Holy  Family  of  Five  and  Six  Figures 393 

The  Family  of  the  Virgin  grouped  together 393 

Examples  of  Holy  Family  as  treated  by  various  Ar- 
tists   396 

The  Carpenter's  Shop 401 

The  Infant  Christ  learning  to  read 405 

The  Dispute  in  the  Temple.    The  Virgin  seeks 

her  Son 406 

The  Death  of  Joseph 410 

The  Mabbiaoe  at  Cana.    Proper  Treatment  of  the 
Virgin  in  this  Subject;  as  treated  by  Luini  and 

by  Paul  Veronese 41t 

The  Virgin  attends  on  the  Ministry  of  Christ.    Mys- 
tical Treatment  by  Fra  Angelico 417 

U)    Spasimo.    Christ  takes  leave  of  his   Mother. 
Women  who  are  introduced  into  Scenes  of  the 

Passion  of  our  Lord 420 

the  Procession  to  Calvary     Lo  Spasiinc  di  jSicilia, .    42S 


»  CONTENTS. 

Fhb  Crucifixion.  Proper  Treatment  of  the  Virgin 
in  this  Subject.  The  impropriety  of  placing  her 
npon  the  Ground.  Her  Fortitude.  Christ  rec- 
ommends his  Mother  to  St.  John 420 

The  Descent  from  the  Cross.  Proper  Place  and 
Action  of  the  Virgin  in  this  Subject 430 

The  Deposition.  Proper  Treatment  of  this  Form  of 
the  Mater  Dolorosa,  Persons  introduced.  Vari- 
ous Examples 4t9 

The  Entombment.  Treated  as  an  historical  Scene. 
As  one  of  the  Sorrows  of  the  Hosary;  attended 
by  Saints 485 

rhe  Maier  Dohrosa  attended  by  St.  Peter.  Attended 
by  St.  John  and  Mary  Magdalene 438 


pabt  nr. 

THE  LIFE  OF  THE  VIRGIN  MARY  FROM  THl 
RESURRECTION  OF  OUR  LORD  TO  THE  AS- 
SUMPTION. 

The  Apparition  of    Christ  to   his   Mother. 

Beauty  and  Sentiment  of  the  old  Legend;  how 

represented  by  the  Artists 4^ 

The  Ascension  of  our  Lord.    The  proper  Place  of 

the  Virgin  Mary 446 

The  Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  Mary  being 

one  of  the  principal  Persons 44€ 

The  Apostles  take  leave  of  the  Virgin 449 

The  Death  and  Assumption  of  the  Virgin.    The 

old  Greek  Legend 460 

r^e    Angel    announces    to  Mary   her  approaching 

Death 4M 


CONTENTS.  XI 

Pa|« 

The  Death  of  the  Virgin,  an  ancient  and  important 
Subject.  As  treated  in  the  Greek  School;  in  ear- 
ly German  Art;  in  Italian  Art.  Various  Exam- 
ples  451 

The  Apostles  cany  the  Body  of  the  Virgin  to  the 
Tomb 464 

The  Entombment 465 

The  Assumption.  Distinction  between  the  Assump- 
tion of  the  Body  and  the  Assumption  of  the  Soul 
of  the  Virgin.  The  Assumption  as  a  Mystery; 
as  an  Event 465 

La  Madonna  della  Cintola.  The  Legend  of  the 
Girdle;  as  painted  in  the  Cathedral  at  Prato. . . .  468 

Examples  of  the  Assumption  as  represented  by  yari- 
ous  Artists 474 

The  Cobonation  as  distinguished  from  the  Incoro- 
ncUa ;  how  troated  as  an  historical  Subject  Con- 
clusion   4M 


HOTB. 


Turn  dece&ie  of  Mrs.  Jameson,  the  accomplished  i 
and  popular  writer,  at  an  advanced  period  of  life,  too* 
place  in  March,  1860,  after  a  brief  illness.  But  the  firame 
hadkng  been  worn  out  by  past  years  of  anxiety,  and  the 
fatigues  of  laborious  literary  occupation  conscientiously  un- 
dertaken and  carried  out.  Having  entered  certain  fields 
of  research  and  enterprise,  perhaps  at  first  accidentally, 
Mrs.  Jameson  could  not  satisfy  herself  by  anything  less 
than  the  utmost  that  minute  collection  and  progressive 
study  could  do  to  sustain  her  popularity.  Distant  and 
exhausting  journeys,  diligent  examination  of  far-scattered 
examples  of  Art,  voluminous  and  various  reading,  became 
seemingly  more  and  more  necessary  to  her;  and  at  the 
very  time  of  life  when  rest  and  slackened  effort  would 
have  been  natural,  —  not  merely  because  her  labours  were 
in  aid  of  others,  bat  to  satisfy  her  own  high  sense  of  what 
is  demanded  by  Art  and  Literature,  —  did  her  hand  and 
brain  work  more  and  more  perseveringly  and  thoughtfully, 
till  at  last  she  sank  under  her  weariness;  and  passed 
away. 

The  father  of  Miss  Murphy  was  a  miniature-painter  of 
repute,  attached,  we  believe,  tc  the  household  of  the  Prin- 
cess Charlotte.  His  daughter  Anna  was  naturally  taught 
by  him  the  principles  of  his  own  art ;  but  she  had  instincts 
for  all,  —  taste  for  music,  —  a  feeling  for  poetry,  —  and  a 
delicate  appreciation  of  the  drama.  These  gifts  —  in  ?ier 
fouth  rarer  in  combination  than  thev  are  now  (when  the 
oonnection  of  the  arts  is  becoming  underst<  ;>d,  and  tht 


love  of  all  increasingly  diffused)  —  we.^e,  enuring  part  of 
Mrs.  Jameson's  life,  turned  to  the  service  of  education.— 
It  was  not  till  after  her  marriage,  that  a  foreign  tour  led 
her  into  authorship,  by  the  publication  of  '*  The  Diary  of 
an  Ennuy^e,"  somewhere  about  the  year  1826.  —  It  was 
impossible  to  avoid  detecting  in  that  record  the  presenci* 
of  taste,  thought,  and  feeling,  brought  in  an  original  fash- 
ion to  bear  on  Art,  Society,  Morals. —  The  reception  of  th« 
book  was  decisive. —  It  was  followed,  at  intervals,  by  "  The 
Loves  of  the  Poets,"  "Memoirs  of  Italian  Painters,"  "The 
Lives  of  Female  Sovereigns,"  "  Characteristics  of  Women  " 
(a  series  of  Shakspeare  studies ;  possibly  its  writer's  most 
popular  book).  After  this,  the  Germanism  so  prevalent 
five-and-twenty  years  ago,  and  now  somewhat  gone  by, 
possessed  itself  of  the  authoress,  and  she  published  her 
reminiscences  of  Munich,  the  imitative  art  of  which  was 
new,  and  esteemed  as  almost  a  revelation.  To  the  list 
of  Mrs.  Jameson's  books  may  be  added  her  translation 
of  the  easy,  if  not  vigorous  Dramas  by  the  Princess 
Amelia  of  Saxony,  and  her  "  Winter  Studies  and  Sum- 
mer Rambles  "  — recollections  of  a  visit  to  Canada.  This 
included  the  account  of  her  strange  and  solitary  canoe 
voyage,  and  her  residence  among  a  tribe  of  Indians. 
From  this  time  forward,  social  questions  —  especially  those 
concerning  the  position  of  women  in  life  and  action  —  en- 
grossed a  large  share  of  Mrs.  Jameson's  attention  ;  and 
she  wrote  on  them  occasionally,  always  in  a  large  and  en- 
lightened spirit,  rarely  without  touches  of  delicacy  and 
sentiment.  —  Even  when  we  are  unable  to  accei  t  all  Mrs. 
Jameson's  conclusions,  or  to  join  her  in  the  hero  or  hero- 
toe  worship  of  this  or  the  other  favourite  example,  we 
nave  seldom  a  complaint  to  make  of  the  manner  of  the 
authoress.  It  was  always  earnest,  eloquent,  and  poet- 
ical. 

Besides  a  volume  or  two  of  collected  essays,  thoughtj^ 
note'^  on  books,  and  on  subjects  of  Art,  we  have  left  to 
men  ion  the  elaborate  volumes  on  "  Sacred  and  Legendary 


Art,"  as  the  greatest  literary  labour  of  a  busy  life.  Mrs 
Jameson  was  putting  the  last  finish  to  the  concluding  por- 
tion of  her  work,  when  she  was  bidden  to  cease  forever. 

There  is  little  more  to  be  told,  —  save  that,  in  the  course 
of  her  indefatigable  literary  career,  Mrs.  Jameson  drew 
round  herself  a  large  circle  of  steady  friends — these  among 
the  highest  illustrators  of  Literature  and  Art  in  France, 
Germany,  and  Italy;  and  that,  latterly,  a  pension  from 
Government  was  added  to  her  slender  earnings.  These,  it 
may  be  said  without  indelicacy,  were  liberally  apportioned 
to  the  aid  of  others,  —  Mrs.  Jameson  being,  for  herseh, 
simple,  self-relying,  and  self-denying;  —  holding  that  high 
view  of  the  duties  belonging  to  pursuits  of  imagination 
which  rendered  meanness,  or  servility,  or  dishonourable 
dealing,  or  license  glossed  over  with  some  convenient 
name,  impossible  to  her.  — She  was  a  faithftd  friend,  a 
devoted  relative,  a  graceftilly-cultivated,  and  honest  liter- 
»iy  worker,  whose  mind  was  set  on  "  the  best  and  hon- 
onrablest  things.'* 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE 
TO    THE    FIRST    EDITION. 


In  presenting  to  my  friends  and  to  the  public  this  Serlei  ol 
the  Sacred  and  Legendary  Art,  few  preparatory  words  will  be 
required. 

If  in  the  former  volumes  I  felt  diffident  of  my  own  powers  to 
do  any  justice  to  my  subject,  I  have  yet  been  encouraged  by  the 
lympathy  and  approbation  of  those  who  have  kindly  accepted 
of  what  has  been  done,  and  yet  more  kindly  excused  deficiencies, 
errors,  and  oversights,  which  the  wide  range  of  subjects  rendered 
almost  unavoidable. 

With  f&T  more  of  doubt  and  diffidence,  yet  not  less  trust  in  th« 
benevolence  and  candour  of  my  critics,  do  I  present  this  volume 
to  the  public.  I  hope  it  will  be  distinctly  understood,  that  the 
general  plan  of  the  work  is  merely  artistic ;  that  it  really  aima 
at  nothing  more  than  to  render  the  various  subjects  intelligible. 
For  this  reason  it  has  been  thought  advisable  to  set  aside,  in  a 
great  measure,  individual  preferences,  and  all  predilections  for 
particular  schools  and  particular  periods  of  Art,  —  to  take,  in 
short,  the  widest  possible  range  as  regards  examples,  —  and  then 
to  leave  the  reader,  when  thus  guided  to  the  meaning  of  what  he 
sees,  to  select,  compare,  admire,  according  to  his  own  discrimina- 
tion, taste,  and  requirements.  The  great  difficulty  has  been  to 
keep  within  reasonable  limits.  Though  the  subject  has  a  unity 
not  found  in  the  other  volumes,  it  is  reaUy  boundless  as  regards 
variety  and  complexity.  I  may  have  been  superficial  from  mere 
■uperabundance  of  materials ;  sometimes  mistaken  as  to  fsMta 
ftnd  dates ;  the  tastes,  the  feelings,  and  the  faith  of  my  readem 
feiaiy  not  always  go  along  with  me ;  but  if  attention  and  Intexeat 


KVm  PREFACE. 

have  been  excited— if  the  sphere  of  eiyoyment  in  works  of  Arl 
have  been  enlarged  and  enlightened,  I  have  done  all  I  eve* 
wished — all  I  ever  hoped,  to  do. 

With  regard  to  a  point  of  infinitely  greater  importance,  I  maj 
be  allowed  to  plead,  —  that  it  has  been  impossible  to  treat  of  the 
representations  of  the  Blessed  Vii^n  without  touching  on  doc- 
trines such  as  constitute  the  principal  differences  between  the 
creeds  of  Christendom.  I  have  had  to  ascend  most  perilous 
heights,  to  dive  into  terribly  obscure  depths.  Not  for  worlds 
would  I  be  guilty  of  a  scoffing  allusion  to  any  belief  or  any  ob- 
ject held  sacred  by  sincere  and  earnest  hearts ;  but  neither  ha« 
it  been  possible  for  me  to  write  in  a  tone  of  acquiescence,  whers 
I  altogether  differ  in  feeling  and  opinion.  On  this  point  I  shall 
need,  and  feel  sure  that  I  shall  obtain,  the  generous  i 
Mmi  of  readfin  of  all  pezraasioiui 


INTRODUCTIOIS. 


L  OBIGIK  AND   HISTORY   OF    THE    EFFIGIES    09 
THE   MADONNA. 

Through  all  the  most  beautiful  and  precious  pro- 
ductions of  human  genius  and  human  skill  which  tbii 
middle  ages  and  the  renaissance  have  bequeathed 
to  us,  we  trace,  more  or  less  developed,  more  or 
less  apparent,  present  in  shape  before  us,  or  sug- 
gested through  inevitable  associations,  one  prevail- 
ing idea :  it  is  that  of  an  impersonation  in  the  fem- 
inine character  of  beneficence,  purity,  and  power, 
standing  between  an  offended  Deity  and  poor,  sin- 
ning, suffering  humanity,  and  clothed  in  the  visible 
form  of  Mary,  the  Mother  of  our  Lord. 

To  the  Roman  Catholics  this  idea  remains  an 
indisputable  religious  truth  of  the  highest  import. 
Those  of  a  different  creed  may  think  fit  to  dispose 
of  the  whole  subject  of  the  Madonna  either  as  a 
form  of  superstition  or  a  form  of  Art.  But  merely 
as  a  form  of  Art,  we  cannot  in  these  days  confine 
ourselves  to  empty  conventional  criticism.  We  are 
obliged  to  look  further  and  deeper ;  and  in  this  de- 
partment of  Legendary  Art,  as  in  the  others,  we 
must  take  the  higher  ground,  perilous  though  it  be. 
We  must  seek  to  comprehend  the  dominant  idea 
lying  behind  and  beyond  the  mere  representation 
For,  after  all,  some  consideration  is  due  to  facti 
which  we  must  necessarily  accept,  whether  we  dea.' 


20  INTRODUCTION. 

Tntli  antiquarian  theology  or  artistic  criticism; 
namely,  that  the  worship  of  the  Madonna  did  pre- 
vail through  all  the  Christian  and  civilized  world 
for  nearly  a  thousand  years ;  that,  in  spite  of  errors, 
exaggerations,  abuses,  this  worship  did  comprehend 
certain  great  elemental  truths  interwoven  with  our 
human  nature,  and  to  be  evolved  perhaps  with  our 
future  destinies.  Therefore  did  it  work  itself  into 
the  life  and  soul  of  man ;  therefore  has  it  been 
worked  out  in  the  manifestations  of  his  genius ;  and 
therefore  the  multiform  imagery  in  which  it  haf 
been  clothed,  from  the  rudest  imitations  of  life,  to 
the  most  exquisite  creations  of  mind,  may  be  Pfr- 
solved,  as  a  whole,  into  one  subject,  and  becomei 
one  great  monument  in  the  history  of  progressive 
thought  and  faith,  as  well  as  in  the  history  of  pra 
gressive  art. 

Of  the  pictures  in  our  galleries,  public  or  pri- 
vate, —  of  the  architectural  adornments  of  tho« 
majestic  edifices  which  sprung  up  in  the  middlt 
ages  (where  they  have  not  been  despoiled  or  dese- 
crated by  a  zeal  as  fervent  as  that  which  reared 
them),  the  largest  and  most  beautiful  portion  have 
'^ference  to  the  Madonna,  —  her  character,  her 
person,  her  history.  It  was  a  theme  which  neve« 
tired  her  votaries,  —  whether,  as  in  the  hands  ol 
great  and  sincere  artists,  it  became  one  of  th - 
noblest  and  loveUest,  or,  as  in  the  hands  of  super- 
ficial, unbelieving,  time-serving  artists,  one  of  th« 
most  degraded.  AH  that  human  genius.  Inspired 
by  faith,  could  achieve  of  best,  all  that  fanaticism, 
sensualism,  atheism,  could  perpetrate  of  worst,  do 
we  find  in  the  cycle  of  those  representations  which 
have  been  dedicated  to  the  glory  of  the  Virgin. 
And  indeed  the  ethics  of  the  Madonna  worship,  aa 
evolved  in  art,  might  be  not  unaptly  likened  to  the 
ethics  of  human  love :  so  long  as  the  object  of 
sense  remained  in  subjection  to  the  moral  idea  — 
10  long  as  tho  appeal  was  to  the  best  of  our  facul 


INTRODUCTION.  %i 

fies  and  affections — so  long  was  the  image  grana 
or  refinM,  and  the  influences  to  be  ranked  with 
those  which  have  helped  to  humanize  and  civilize 
our  race ;  but  so  soon  as  the  object  became  a  mere 
idol,  then  worship  and  worshippers,  art  and  artista, 
were  together  degraded. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  enter  here  on  that  dis- 
puted point,  the  origin  of  the  worship  of  the  Ma- 
donna. Our  present  theme  lies  within  prescribed 
imits,  —  wide  enough,  however,  to  embrace  an  imr- 
mense  field  of  thought:  it  seeks  to  trace  the  pro- 
gressive influence  of  that  worship  on  the  fine  art* 
for  a  thousand  years  or  more,  and  to  interpret  the 
forms  in  which  it  has  been  clothed.  That  the  ven- 
eration paid  to  Mary  in  the  early  Church  was  a 
very  natural  feeling  in  those  who  advocated  the 
divinity  of  her  Son,  would  be  granted,  I  suppose, 
by  all  but  the  most  bigoted  reformers ;  that  it  led 
to  unwise  and  wild  extremes,  confounding  the 
creature  with  the  Creator,  would  be  admitted,  I 
suppose,  by  all  but  the  most  bigoted  Roman  Catho- 
lics. How  it  extended  from  the  East  over  the  na- 
tions of  the  West,  how  it  grew  and  spread,  may 
be  read  in  ecclesiastical  histories.  Everywhere  it 
seems  to  have  found  in  the  human  heart  some 
deep  sympathy  —  deeper  far  than  mere  theological 
doctrine  could  reach  —  ready  to  accept  it ;  and  in 
every  land  the  ground  prepared  for  it  in  some 
already  dominant  idea  of  a  mother- Goddess,  chaste, 
beautiful,  and  benign.  As,  in  the  oldest  Hebrew 
ites  and  Pagan  superstitions,  men  traced  the  prom- 
se  of  a  coming  Messiah,  —  as  the  deliverers  and 
Kings  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  even  the  demi- 
gods of  heathendom,  became  accepted  types  of  th€ 
person  of  Christ,  —  so  the  Eve  of  the  Mosaic  his. 
tory,  the  Astarte  of  the  Assyrians — 

"  The  mooned  Ashtaroth,  queen  and  mother  both,"  — 
the  Isis  nursing  Horus  of  the  Egyptians,  the  Demft 


f2  INTIfcODUCTION. 

ler  and  the  Aphrodite  of  the  Greeks,  the  Scytbi^qj 
Freya,  have  been  considered  by  some  writer*  aa 
types  of  a  divine  maternity,  foreshadowing  the  Vir- 
j^in-mother  of  Christ.  Others  will  have  h  that 
these  scattered,  dim,  mistaken  —  often  gnws  and 
perverted  —  ideas  which  were  afterwards  gathered 
into  the  pure,  dignified,  tender  image  of  the  Ma» 
donna,  were  but  as  the  voice  of  a  mighty  prophecy, 
Bounded  through  all  the  generations  of  men,  even 
from  the  beginning  of  time,  of  the  coming  moral 
regeneration,  and  complete  and  harmonious  devel- 
opment of  the  whole  human  race,  by  the  establish- 
ment, on  a  higher  basis,  of  what  has  been  called 
the  "feminine  element"  in  society.  And  let  me 
at  least  speak  for  myself.  In  the  perpetual  itera- 
tion of  that  beautiful  image  of  the  woman  highly 
blessed  —  there,  where  others  saw  only  pictures  or 
statues,  I  have  seen  this  great  hope  standing  like  a 
spirit  beside  the  visible  form :  in  the  fervent  wor- 
ship once  universally  given  to  that  gracious  pres- 
ence, I  have  beheld  an  acknowledgment  of  a  higher 
as  well  as  gentler  power  than  that  of  the  strong 
hand  and  the  might  that  makes  the  right,  —  and  in 
every  earnest  votary  one  who,  as  he  knelt,  was  in 
this  sense  pious  beyond  the  reach  of  his  own 
thought,  and  "  devout  beyond  the  meaning  of  his 
will." 

It  is  curious  to  observe,  as  the  worship  of  the 
Virgin-mother  expanded  and  gathered  to  itself  the 
relics  of  many  an  ancient  faith,  how  the  new  and 
the  old  elements,  some  of  them  apparently  the  most 
heterogeneous,  became  amalgamated,  and  were  com- 
bined into  the  early  forms  of  art ;  —  how  the  Ma- 
donna, when  she  assumed  the  characteristics  of  the 
great  Diana  of  Ephesus,  at  once  the  type  of  Fertil- 
ity, and  the  Goddess  of  Chastity,  became,  as  the 
Impersonation  of  motherhood,  all  beauty,  bounty 
and  graciousness  :  and  at  the  same  time,  by  virtue 
of  her  perpetual  virginity,  the  patroness  of  singl« 


INTRODUCTION.  2S 

and  ascetic  life  —  the  example  and  the  excuse  for 
many  of  the  wildest  of  the  early  monkish  theories. 
With  Christianity,  new  ideas  of  the  moral  and  re 
ligious  responsibility  of  woman  entered  the  world 
and  while  these  ideas  were  yet  struggling  with  the 
Hebrew  and  classical  prejudices  concerning  the 
wrhole  sex,  they  seem  to  have  produced  some  curi- 
ous perplexity  in  the  minds  of  the  greatest  doctori 
of  the  faith.  Christ,  as  they  assure  us,  was  born  of 
a  woman  only,  and  had  no  earthly  father,  that  nei- 
ther sex  might  despair ;  ''  for  had  he  been  born  a 
man  (which  was  necessary),  yet  not  born  of  woman, 
the  women  might  have  despaired  of  themselves, 
recollecting  the  first  offence,  the  first  man  having 
been  deceived  by  a  woman.  Therefore  we  are  to 
suppose  that,  for  the  exaltation  of  the  male  sex, 
Christ  appeared  on  earth  as  a  man ;  and,  for  the 
consolation  of  womankind,  he  was  born  of  a  woman 
only ;  as  if  it  had  been  said,  '  From  henceforth  no 
creature  shall  be  base  before  God,  unless  perverted 
by  depravity.'"  (Augustine,  Opera  Supt.  238. 
Serm.  63.)  Such  is  the  reasoning  of  St.  Augustine, 
who,  I  must  observe,  had  an  especial  veneration  for 
his  mother  Monica ;  and  it  is  perhaps  for  her  sake 
that  he  seems  here  desirous  to  prove  that  through 
the  Virgin  Mary  all  womankind  were  henceforth 
elevated  in  the  scale  of  being.  And  this  was  the 
idea  entertained  of  her  subsequently :  "  Ennobler 
of  thy  nature ! "  says  Dante  apostrophizing  her,  as 
if  her  perfections  had  ennobled  not  merely  her  own 
lez,  but  the  whole  human  race.* 

But  also  with  Christianity  came  the  want  of  a 
new  type  of  womanly  perfection,  combining  all  the 
attributes  of  the  ancient  female  divinities  with  oth- 
ers altogether  new.  Christ,  as  the  model-man, 
united  the  virtues  of  the  two  sexes,  till  the  idea  tha 
Uiere  are  essentially  masculine  and  feminine  vir 

*  **  Ta  se'  colei  che  1'  uioana  natura  Nobilitasti.  ' 


i4.  INTKODUCTION. 

kues  intruded  itself  on  the  higher  Christian  concep 
tion,  and  seems  to  have  necessitated  the  female  type. 
The  first  historical  mention  of  a  direct  worship 
paid  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  occurs  in  a  passage  in  the 
works  of  St.  Epiphanius,  who  died  in  403.  In 
enumerating  the  heresies  (eighty-four  in  number) 
which  had  sprung  up  in  the  early  Church,  he  men- 
tions a  sect  of  women,  who  had  emigrated  from 
Thrace  into  Arabia,  with  whom  it  was  customary  to 
offer  cakes  of  meal  and  honey  to  the  Virgin  Mary, 
as  if  she  had  been  a  divinity,  transferring  to  her, 
in  fact,  the  worship  paid  to  Ceres.  The  very  first 
instance  which  occurs  in  written  history  of  an  invo- 
cation to  Mary,  is  in  the  life  of  St.  Justina,  as  re- 
lated by  Gregory  Nazianzen.  Justina  calls  on  the 
Virgin-mother  to  protect  her  against  the  seducer 
and  sorcerer,  Cyprian ;  and  does  not  call  in  vain. 
(Sacred  and  Legendary  Art.)  These  passages, 
however,  do  not  prove  that  previously  to  the 
fourth  century  there  had  been  no  worship  or 
invocation  of  the  Virgin,  but  rather  the  contra- 
ry. However  this  may  be,  it  is  to  the  same  pe- 
riod —  the  fourth  century  —  we  refer  the  most 
ancient  representations  of  the  Virgin  in  art  The 
earliest  figures  extant  are  those  on  the  Christian 
sarcophagi ;  but  neither  in  the  early  sculpture  nor 
in  the  mosaics  of  St.  Maria  Maggiore  do  we  find 
any  figure  of  the  Virgin  standing  alone ;  she 
forms  part  of  a  group  of  the  Nativity  or  the  Ado- 
ration of  the  Magi.  There  is  no  attempt  at  in- 
dividuality or  portraiture.  St  Augustine  saya 
expressly,  that  there  existed  in  his  time  no  au- 
thentic portrait  ot  the  Virgin ;  but  it  is  inferred 
from  his  account  that,  authentic  or  not,  such  pic 
tures  did  then  exist,  since  there  were  already  dig 
putes  concerning  their  authenticity.  There  were 
%t  this  period  received  symbols  of  the  person  and 
character  of  Christ,  as  the  lamb,  the  vine,  the  fish 
fcc.,  but  not,  as  far  as  I  can  learn,  any  such  accepl 


INTRODUCTION.  2k 

ed  symbols  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  Further,  it  is  th^ 
opinion  of  the  learned  in  ecclesiastical  antiquities 
that,  previous  to  the  first  Council  of  Ephesus,  it 
was  the  custom  to  represent  the  figure  of  the  Vir- 
gin alone  without  the  Child ;  but  that  none  of  these 
original  effigies  remain  to  us,  only  supposed  copies 
of  a  later  date.  *  And  this  is  all  I  have  been  able 
to  discover  relative  to  her  in  connection  with  the 
•acred  imagery  of  the  first  four  centuries  of  our  era. 

The  condemnation  of  Nestorius  by  the  Council 
of  Ephesus,  in  the  year  431,  forms  a  most  impor- 
tant epoch  in  the  history  of  religious  art.  I  have 
given  further  on  a  sketch  of  this  celebrated  schism, 
and  its  immediate  and  progressive  results.  It  may 
be  thus  summed  up  here.  The  Nestorians  main- 
tained, that  in  Christ  the  two  natures  of  God  and 
man  remained  separate,  and  that  Mary,  his  human 
mother,  was  parent  of  the  man,  but  not  of  the  God ; 
consequently  the  title  which,  during  the  previous 
century,  had  been  popularly  applied  to  her,  "  The- 
otokos"  (Mother  of  God),  was  improper  and  pro- 
fane. The  party  opposed  to  Nestorius,  the  Monoph- 
ysite,  maintained  that  in  Christ  the  divine  and  hu- 
man were  blended  in  one  incarnate  nature,  and 
that  consequently  Mary  was  indeed  the  Mother  of 
God.  By  the  decree  of  the  first  Council  of  Ephesus, 
Nestorius  and  his  party  were  condemned  as  here- 
tics; and  henceforth  the  representation  of  that 
beautiful  group,  since  popularly  known  as  the 
*'  Madonna  and  Child,"  became  the  expression  of 
the  orthodox  faith.  Every  one  who  wished  to  prove 
bis  hatred  of  the  arch-heretic  exhibited  the  image 
of  the  maternal  Virgin  holding  in  her  arms  the  In- 
fant Godhead,  either  in  his  house  as  a  picture,  or 
embroidered  on  his  garments,  or  on  his  furniture,  on 
his  personal  ornaments  —  in  short,  wherever  it  could 

*  Vide  "  MemorU  delV  Immagine  di  M.  V,  deW  Ivtpruneta. 
71orence,  1714. 


86  INTEODUCTIOK. 

be  introduced.  It  is  worth  reroarking  that  CyjiH^ 
who  was  so  influential  in  fixing  the  orthodox  group, 
had  passed  the  greater  part  of  his  life  in  Egypt,  and 
must  have  been  familiar  with  the  Egyptian  type  of 
Isis  nursing  Horus.  Nor,  as  I  conceive,  is  there 
any  irrev-erence  in  supposing  that  a  time-honoured 
intelligible  symbol  should  be  chosen  to  embody  and 
formalize  a  creed.  For  it  must  be  remembered 
that  the  group  of  the  Mother  and  Child  was  not  at 
first  a  representation,  but  merely  a  theological  sym- 
bol set  up  in  the  orthodox  churches,  and  adopted  by 
the  orthodox  Christians. 

It  is  just  after  the  Council  of  Ephesus  that  histo 
ry  first  makes  mention  of  a  supposed  authentic  por- 
trait of  the  Virgin  Mary.  The  Empress  Eudocia, 
when  travelling  in  the  Holy  Land,  sent  home  such  a 
picture  of  the  Virgin  holding  the  Child  to  her  sistei^ 
m-law  Pulcheria,  who  placed  it  in  a  church  at  Con- 
Btantinople.  It  was  at  that  time  regarded  as  of  very 
high  antiq^uity,  and  supj)osed  to  have  been  painted 
from  the  life.  It  is  certain  that  a  picture,  tradition- 
ally said  to  be  the  same  which  Eudocia  had  sent  to 
Pulcheria,  did  exist  at  Constantinople,  and  was  so 
much  venerated  by  the  people  as  to  be  regarded  as 
a  sort  of  palladium,  and  borne  in  a  superb  litter  or 
car  in  the  midst  of  the  imperial  host,  when  the  em- 
peror led  the  army  in  person.  The  fate  of  this  relic 
18  not  certainly  known.  It  is  said  to  have  been 
taken  by  the  Turks  in  1453,  and  dragged  through 
thennire ;  but  others  deny  this  as  utterly  derogatory 
to  the  majesty  of  the  Queen  of  Heaven,  who  never 
would  have  suffered  such  an  indignity  to  have  been 
put  on  her  sacred  image.  According  to  the  Vene- 
tian legend,  it  was  this  identical  effigy  which  was 
takan  b}  the  blind  old  Dandolo,  when  he  besieged 
and  took  Constantinople  in  1204,  and  brought  in 
triumph  to  Venice,  where  it  has  ever  since  beei» 
preserved  in  the  church  of  St  Mark,  and  held  in 
wmma  venerazione.     No  mention  is  made  of  St 


INTRODUCTION.  21 

Luke  in  the  earliest  account  of  this  picture,  though 
like  all  the  antique  effigies  of  uncertain  origin,  it 
was  in  after  times  attributed  to  him. 

The  history  of  the  next  three  hundred  years  tes- 
tifies to  the  triumph  of  orthodoxy,  the  extension 
and  popularity  of  the  worship  of  the  Virgin,  and 
the  consequent  multiplication  of  her  image  m  every 
/orm  and  material,  through  the  whole  of  Christen- 
dom. 

Then  followed  the  schism  of  the  Iconoclasts, 
which  distracted  the  Church  for  more  than  one 
hundred  years,  under  Leo  III.,  the  Isaurian,  and 
his  immediate  successors.  Such  were  the  extrava- 
gances of  superstition  to  which  the  image-worship 
had  led  the  excitable  Orientals,  that,  if  Leo  had 
been  a  wise  and  temperate  reformer,  he  might  have 
done  much  good  in  checking  its  excesses ;  but  he 
was  himself  an  ignorant,  merciless  barbarian.  The 
persecution  by  which  he  sought  to  exterminate  the 
sacred  pictures  of  the  Madonna,  and  the  cruel- 
ties exercised  on  her  unhappy  votaries,  produced 
a  general  destruction  of  the  most  curious  and 
precious  remains  of  antique  art.  In  other  re- 
spects, the  immediate  result  was  naturally  enough 
a  reaction,  which  not  only  reinstated  pictures  in 
the  veneration  of  the  people,  but  greatly  increased 
their  influence  over  the  imagination;  for  it  is  at 
this  time  that  we  first  hear  of  a  miraculous  picture. 
Among  those  who  most  strongly  defended  the  use 
of  sacred  images  in  the  churches,  was  St.  John 
Damascene,  one  of  the  great  lights  of  the  Oriental 
Church.  According  to  the  Greek  legend,  he  wag 
condemned  to  lose  his  right  hand,  which  was  ac- 
•jordingly  cut  off;  but  he,  full  of  faith,  prostrating 
himself  before  a  picture  of  the  Virgin,  stretched 
out  the  bleeding  stump,  and  with  it  touched  hei 
lips,  and  immediately  a  new  hand  sprung  forth 
**  like  a  branch  from  a  tree."  Hence,  among  the 
Greek  effigies  of  the  Virgin,  there  is  one  i;)eculiarl» 


28  INTRODUCTION. 

comnaemorative  of  this  miracle,  styled  "  the  Virgin 
with  three  hands."  (Didron,  Manuel,  p.  462.)  In 
the  west  of  Europe,  where  the  abuses  of  the  image* 
worship  had  never  yet  reached  the  wild  superstition 
of  the  Oriental  Christians,  the  fury  of  the  Icono- 
clastar  excited  horror  and  consternation.  The  tem- 
perate and  eloquent  apology  for  sacred  pictures, 
addreased  by  Gregory  II.  to  the  Emperor  Leo,  had 
the  effect  of  mitigating  the  persecution  in  Italy, 
where  the  work  of  destruction  could  not  be  carried 
out  to  the  same  extent  as  in  the  Byzantine  prov- 
inces. Hence  it  is  in  Italy  only  that  any  important 
remains  of  sacred  art  anterior  to  the  Iconoclast 
dynasty  have  been  preserved.* 
•  The  second  Council  of  Nice,  under  the  Empress 
Irene  in  787,  condemned  the  Iconoclasts,  and  re- 
stored the  use  of  the  sacred  pictures  in  the  churches. 
Nevertheless,  the  controversy  still  raged  till  after 
the  death  of  Theophilus,  the  last  and  the  most 
cruel  of  the  Iconoclasts,  in  842.  His  widow  Theo- 
dora achieved  the  final  triumph  of  the  orthodox 
party,  and  restored  the  Virgin  to  her  throne.  We 
must  observe,  however,  that  only  pictures  were  al- 
lowed ;  all  sculptured  imagery  was  still  prohibited, 
and  has  never  since  been  allowed  in  the  Greek 
Church,  except  in  very  low  relief.  The  flatter  the 
surface,  the  more  orthodox. 

It  is,  I  think,  about  886,  that  we  first  find  the 
effigy  of  the  Virgin  on  the  coins  of  the  Greek  em- 
pire. On  a  gold  coin  of  Leo  VI.,  the  Philosopher, 
she  stands  veiled,  and  draped,  with  a  noble  head, 
no  glory,  and  the  arms  outspread,  just  as  she  ap- 
pears in  the  old  mosaics.  On  a  coin  of  Romanua 
the  Younger,  she  crowns  the  emperor,  having  her- 

•  It  appears,  from  one  of  these  letters  from  Gr^ory  11.,  thai 
ft  was  the  custom  at  that  time  (725)  to  employ  reli^ous  pkturei 
fts  a  meanf  of  instruction  in  the  schools.  He  says,  that  if  Leo 
were  to  enter  a  school  in  Italy,  and  to  say  that  he  prohibited  pio* 
tores,  the  children  would  infallibly  throw  their  hornbooks  (  Tm 
Mlexxt  del  alfaheto)  at  his  head.  —  y.  Bosio^  p.  667. 


INTRODUCTION.  2^ 

ielf  the  nimbus ;  she  is  draped  and  veiled.  On  a 
coin  of  Mcephorus  Phocus  (who  had  great  preten- 
sions to  piety),  the  Virgin  stands,  presenting  a 
cross  to  the  emperor,  with  the  inscription,  "  Theo- 
tokos,  be  propitious."  On  a  gold  coin  of  John 
Zimisces,  975,  we  first  find  the  virgin  and  Child, — 
the  symbol  merely :  she  holds  agamst  her  bosom  a 
circular  glory,  within  which  is  the  head  of  the  In- 
fant Chnst.  In  the  successive  reigns  of  the  next 
two  centuries,  she  almost  constantly  appears  as 
crowning  the  emperor. 

Returning  to  the  West,  we  find  that  in  the  succeed- 
ing period,  from  Charlemagne  to  the  first  crusade, 
the  popular  devotion  to  the  Virgin,  and  the  multipli- 
cation of  sacred  pictures,  continued  steadily  to  in- 
crease ;  yet  in  the  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries  art 
was  at  its  lowest  ebb.  At  this  time,  the  subjects 
relative  to  the  Virgin  were  principally  the  Madonna 
and  Child,  represented  according  to  the  Greek 
form ;  and  those  scenes  from  the  Gospel  in  which 
she  is  introduced,  as  the  Annunciation,  the  Nativ- 
ity, and  the  Worship  of  the  Magi. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  tenth  century  the  cus- 
tom of  adding  the  angelic  salutation,  the  ^^  Ave 
Maria"  to  the  Lord's  prayer,  was  first  introduced , 
and  by  the  end  of  the  following  century,  it  had 
been  adopted  in  the  offices  of  the  Church.  This 
was,  at  first,  intended  as  a  perpetual  reminder  of 
the  mystery  of  the  Incarnation,  as  announced  by 
the  angel.  It  must  have  had  the  effect  of  keeping 
the  idea  of  Mary  as  united  with  that  of  her  Son, 
and  as  the  instrument  of  the  Incarnation,  con- 
tinually in  the  minds  of  the  people. 

The  pilgrimages  to  the  Holy  Land,  and  the  cru- 
sades in  the  eleventh  and  the  twelfth  centuries,  had 
a  most  striking  effect  on  religious  art,  though  this 
effect  was  not  fully  evolved  till  a  century  later 
More  particularly  did  this  returning  wave  of  Ort 
ental  mfluences  modify  the  representations  of  *h» 
3 


50  INTRODUCTIOX 

Virgin.  Fragments  of  the  apocryphal  gospels  and 
(egendg  of  l^estine  and  Egypt  were  now  intro* 
duced,  worked  up  into  ballads,  stories,  and  dramas, 
and  gradually  incorporated  with  the  teaching  of 
the  Church.  A  great  variety  of  subjects  derived 
from  the  Greek  artists,  and  from  particular  locali- 
ties and  traditions  of  the  East,  became  naturalized 
in  Western  Europe.  Among  these  were  the  le- 
gends of  Joachim  and  Anna ;  and  the  death,  the 
assumption,  and  the  coronation  of  the  Virgin. 

Then  came  the  thirteenth  century,  an  era  nota- 
ble in  the  history  of  mind,  more  especially  notable 
in  the  history  of  art.  The  seed  scattered  hither 
and  thither,  during  the  stormy  and  warlike  period 
of  the  crusades,  now  sprung  up  and  flourished, 
bearing  diverse  fruit.  A  more  contemplative  en- 
thusiasm, a  superstition  tinged  with  a  morbid  mel- 
ancholy, fermented  into  life  and  form.  In  that 
general  "  fit  of  compunction"  which  we  are  told 
seized  all  Italy  at  this  time,  the  passionate  devotion 
for  the  benign  Madonna  mingled  the  poetry  of  pity 
with  that  of  pain ;  and  assuredly  this  state  of  feel- 
ing, with  its  mental  and  moral  requirements,  must 
have  assisted  in  emancipating  art  from  the  rigid 
formalism  of  the  degenerate  Greek  school.  Men's 
hearts,  throbbing  with  a  more  feeling,  more  pensive 
life,  demanded  something  more  like  life,  —  and 
produced  it.  It  is  curious  to  trace  in  the  Madon- 
nas of  contemporary,  but  far  distant  and  uncon- 
nected schools  of  painting,  the  simultaneous  dawn- 
ing of  a  sympathetic  sentiment  —  for  the  first  time 
Bomething  in  the  faces  of  the  divine  beings  respon- 
sive to  the  feeling  of  the  worshippers.  It  was  this, 
perhaps,  which  caused  the  enthusiasm  excited  by 
Cimabue*s  great  Madonna,  and  made  the  people 
ihout  and  dance  for  joy  when  it  was  uncovered 
before  them.  Compared  with  the  spectral  rigidity, 
fche  hard  monotony,  of  the  conventional  Byzan^ 
Anes,  the  more  animated  eyes,  the  little  touch  c/ 


INTRODUCTION.  81 

iweetness  in  the  still,  mild  face,  must  have  been 
like  a  smile  out  of  heaven.  As  we  trace  the  same 
Bofler  influence  in  the  earliest  Siena  and  Cologne 
pictures  of  about  the  same  period,  we  may  fairly 
regard  it  as  an  impress  of  the  spirit  of  the  time, 
rather  than  that  of  an  individual  mind. 

In  the  succeeding  century  these  elements  of 
poetic  art,  expanded  and  animated  by  an  awakened 
observation  of  nature,  and  a  sympathy  with  her 
external  manifestations,  were  most  especially  di- 
rected by  the  increasing  influence  of  the  worship 
of  the  Virgin,  a  worship  at  once  rehgious  and  chiv- 
alrous. The  title  of  "  Our  Lady "  *  came  first 
into  general  use  in  the  days  of  chivalry,  for  she 
was  the  lady  "  of  all  hearts,"  whose  colours  all 
were  proud  to  wear.  Never  had  her  votaries  so 
abounded.  Hundreds  upon  hundreds  had  en- 
rolled themselves  in  brotherhoods,  vowed  to  her 
especial  service ;  f  or  devoted  to  acts  of  charity, 
to  be  performed  in  her  name.J  Already  the  great 
religious  communities,  which  at  this  time  compre- 
hended all  the  enthusiasm,  learning,  and  influence 
of  the  Church,  had  placed  themselves  solemnly 
and  especially  under  her  protection.  The  Cister- 
cians wore  white  in  honour  of  her  purity;  the 
Servi  wore  black  in  respect  to  her  sorrows ;  the 
Franciscans  had  enrolled  themselves  as  champions 
pf  the  Immaculate  Conception ;  and  the  Domini- 
cans introduced  the  rosary.  All  these  richly  en- 
dowed communities  vied  with  each  other  in  multi- 
plying churches,  chapels,  and  pictures,  in  honour 
of  their  patroness,  and  expressive  of  her  several 
attributes.  The  devout  painter,  kneeUng  before 
his  easel,  addressed  himself  to  the  task  of  portray- 

•  Pr.  Notre  Dame.  ItcU.  La  Madonna.  Ger.  Unser  liebt 
Pratt. 

t  As  the  Serviti,  who  -were  caUed  in  France,  les  esdaves  di 
Marie. 

t  As  the  order  of  "  Our  La&y  of  Mercy,"  for  the  deliverance  of 
Mpttres.  —  Vx(l4  liCgends  of  the  Monastic  Orders. 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

ing  those  heavenly  lineaments  which  Lad  visited 
him  perhaps  in  dreams.  Many  of  the  professed 
monks  arid  friars  became  themselves  accomplished 
artists.* 

At  this  time,  Jaoopo  di  Yoragine  compiled  the 
**  Grolden  Legend,"  a  collection  of  sacred  stories, 
some  already  current,  some  new,  or  in  a  new  form. 
This  famous  book  added  many  themes  to  those 
already  admitted,  and  became  the  authority  and 
storehouse  for  the  early  painters  in  their  groups 
and  dramatic  compositions.  The  increasing  enthu- 
siasm for  the  Virgin  naturally  caused  an  increasing 
demand  for  the  subjects  taken  from  her  personal 
history,  and  led,  consequently,  to  a  more  exact 
study  of  those  natural  objects  and  effects  which 
were  required  as  accessories,  to  greater  skill  in 
grouping  the  figures,  and  to  a  higher  development 
of  historic  art. 

But  of  all  the  influences  on  Italian  art  in  that 
wonderful  fourteenth  century,  Dante  was  the  great- 
est. He  was  the  intimate  friend  of  Giotto.  Through 
the  communion  of  mind,  not  less  than  through  his 
writings,  he  infused  into  religious  art  that  mingled 
theology,  poetry,  and  mysticism,  which  ruled  in  the 
Giottesque  school  during  the  following  century,  and 
went  hand  in  hand  with  the  development  of  the 
power  and  practice  of  imitation.  Now,  the  the- 
ology of  Dante  was  the  theology  of  his  age.  His 
ideas  respecting  the  Virgin  Mary  were  precisely 
those  to  which  the  writings  of  St.  Bernard,  St. 
Bonaventura,  and  St.  Thomas  Aquinas  had  already 
tent  all  the  persuasive  power  of  eloquence,  and  the 
Church  all  the  weight  of  her  authority.  Dante 
rendered  these  doctrines  into  poetry,  and  Giotto 

*  A  very  curious  and  startling  example  of  the  theological  char- 
acter of  the  Virgin  in  the  thirteenth  century  is  figured  in  Misf 
Twining's  work,  "  Tke  Symbols  of  early  Christian  Art;^^  cer 
tainly  the  most  complete  and  useful  book  of  the  kind  which  * 
Imow  of.  Here  the  Madonna  and  Child  are  seated  side  by  sidf 
with  the  Trinity ;  the  Holy  Spirit  resting  on  her  crowned  head. 


INTRODUCTION.  88 

IDd  Ills  followers  rendered  them  Into  form.  In  the 
Paradiso  of  Dante,  the  glorification  of  Marj' ,  as  the 
"Mystic  Rose  "  (Rosa  Mystica)  and  Queen  of 
Heaven,  —  with  the  attendant  angels,  circle  within 
circle,  floating  round  her  in  adoration,  and  singing 
the  Regina  Coeli,  and  saints  and  patriarchs  stretch- 
ing forth  their  hands  towards  her,  —  is  all  a  splen- 
did, but  still  indefinite  vision  of  dazzling  light 
crossed  by  shadowy  forms.  The  painters  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  in  translating  these  glories  into 
a  definite  shape,  had  to  deal  with  imperfect  knowl- 
edge and  imperfect  means ;  they  failed  in  the  power 
to  realize  either  their  own  or  the  poet's  conception ; 
and  yet  —  thanks  to  the  divine  poet !  —  that  early 
conception  of  some  of  the  most  beautiful  of  the 
Madonna  subjects  —  for  instance,  the  Coronation 
and  the  Sposalizio  —  has  never,  as  a  religious  and 
poetical  conception,  been  surpassed  by  later  artists, 
in  spite  of  all  the  appliances  of  colour,  and  mastery 
of  light  and  shade,  and  marvellous  efficiency  of 
hand  since  attained. 

Every  reader  of  Dante  will  remember  the  subi 
ime  hymn  towards  the  close  of  the  Paradiso :  — 

"  Vergine  Madre,  figlia  del  tuo  figlio  I 
IJmile  ed  alta  piu  che  creatura, 
Termine  fisso  d'  etemo  consiglio ; 

Tu  se'  colei  che  P  umana  natura 
Nobilitasti  si,  che  '1  suo  fattore 
Non  disdegno  di  farsi  sua  fattura ; 

Nel  ventre  tuo  si  raccese  P  amore 
Per  lo  cui  caldo  nelP  etema  pace 
Cos\  h  germinato  questo  fiore ; 

Qui  se'  a  noi  meridiana  face 
Di  caritade,  e  giuso  intra  mortal! 
Se'  di  speranza  fontana  vivace : 

Donna,  se'  tanto  grande  e  tanto  vali, 
Che  qual  vuol  grazia  e  a  te  non  ricorre 
Sua  disianza  vuol  volar  senz'  ali ; 

La  tua  benignity  non  pur  soccorre 
A  chi  dimanda.  ma  molte  fiate 
Liberamente  al  dimandar  precorre; 


H  INTRODUCTION. 

In  te  misericordiaj  in  te  pietate, 
In  te  magnificenza,  in  te  s'  aduna 
Quantnnque  in  creatura  h  di  bontate ! " 

To  render  the  splendour,  the  terseness,  the  har* 
mony,  of  this  magnificent  hymn  seems  impossible. 
Gary's  translation  has,  however,  the  merit  of  fidel* 
ity  to  the  sense  :  — 

"  Oh,  Virgin-Mother,  daughter  of  thy  Son! 
Created  beings  all  in  lowliness 
Surpassing,  as  in  height  above  them  all; 
Term  by  the  eternal  counsel  preordain' d; 
Ennobler  of  thy  nature,  so  ad  vane' d 
In  thee,  that  its  great  Maker  did  not  scorn 
To  make  himself  his  own  creation ; 
For  in  thy  womb,  rekindling,  shone  the  love 
Reveal' d,  whose  genial  influence  makes  now 
This  flower  to  germin  in  eternal  peace : 
Here  thou,  to  us,  of  charity  and  love 
Art  as  the  noon-day  torch ;  and  art  beneath. 
To  mortal  men,  of  hope  a  living  spring. 
So  mighty  art  thou,  Lady,  and  so  great. 
That  he  who  grace  desireth,  and  comes  not 
To  thee  for  aidance,  fain  would  have  desire 
Fly  without  wings.    Not  only  him  who  asks, 
Tny  bounty  succours ;  but  doth  freely  oft 
Forerun  the  asking.    Whatsoe'er  may  be 
Of  excellence  in  creature,  pity  mild. 
Relenting  mercy,  large  munificence, 
Are  all  combin'd  in  thee !  '* 

It  ii  interesting  to  turn  to  the  corresponding 
itanzas  in  Chaucer.  The  invocation  to  the  Virgin 
with  which  he  commences  the  story  of  St.  Cecilia 
18  rendered  almost  word  for  word  from  Dante :  — 

"  Thou  Maid  and  Mother,  daughter  of  thy  Son !  " 
Thou  wel  of  mercy,  sinful  soules  cure !  " 

The  last  stanza  of  the  invocation  is  his  own,  and  as 
characteristic  of  the  practical  Chaucer,  as  it  wouW 
have  been  contrary  to  the  genius  of  Dante  :  — 

"  And  for  that  faith  is  dead  withouten  workis, 
So  for  ta  worken  give  me  wit  and  grace ! 


INTltODDCTION.  85 

That  I  be  quit  from  thence  that  most  dark  is ; 
O  thou  that  art  so  fair  and  fiill  of  grace, 
Be  thou  mine  advocate  in  that  high  place, 
There,  as  withouten  end  is  sung  Hozanne, 
Thou  Christes  mother,  daughter  dear  of  Anne  I  " 

Btill  more  beautiful  and  more  his  own  is  the  invo- 
cation in  the  *'  Prioress's  Tale."  I  give  the  stanzai 
AS  modernized  by  Wordsworth :  — 

**  0  Mother  Maid !  0  Maid  and  Mother  free ! 
O  bush  unburnt,  burning  in  Moses'  sight ! 
That  down  didst  ravish  from  the  Deity, 
Through  humbleness,  the  Spirit  that  did  alight 
Upon  thy  heart,  whence,  through  that  glory's  mi^il, 
Conceived  was  the  Father's  sapience. 
Help  me  to  tell  it  in  thy  reverence ! 

"  Lady,  thy  goodness,  thy  magnificence, 
Thy  virtue,  and  thy  great  humility, 
Surpass  all  science  and  all  utterance ; 
For  sometimes,  Lady !  ere  men  pray  to  thee, 
Thou  go'st  before  in  thy  benignity, 
The  light  to  us  vouchsafing  of  thy  prayer, 
To  be  our  guide  unto  thy  Son  so  dear. 

"  My  knowledge  is  so  weak,  O  blissful  Queen, 
To  tell  abroad  thy  mighty  worthiness. 
That  I  the  weight  of  it  may  not  sustain; 
But  as  a  child  of  twelve  months  old,  or  l«^s, 
That  laboureth  his  language  to  express, 
Even  so  fare  I ;  and  therefore,  I  thee  pray. 
Guide  thou  my  song,  which  I  of  thee  shall  say." 

And  again,  we  may  turn  to  Petrarch's  hymn  to 
tha  Virgin,  wherein  he  prays  to  be  delivered  froni 
tis  love  and  everlasting  regrets  for  Laura '  — 

*  Vergine  bella,  che  di  sol  vestita, 
Coronata  di  stelle,  al  sommo  Sole 
Piacesti  si,  che  'n  te  sua  luce  ascose. 

**  Vergine  pura,  d'  ogni  parte  intera, 
Del  tuo  parto  gentil  figliuola  e  madrc  • 

"  Vergine  sola  al  mondo  seiza  esempio^ 
Ch«  '1  ciel  di  tue  bell.3zze  innamorasti  ** 


86  INTRODUCTION. 

The  fancy  of  the  theologians  of  the  middle  agee 
played  rather  dangerously,  as  it  appears  to  me,  foJ 
the  uninitiated  and  uninstructed,  with  the  perplex- 
ity of  these  divine  relationships.  It  is  impossible 
not  to  feel  that  in  their  admiration  for  the  divine 
beauty  of  Mary,  in  borrowing  the  amatory  lan- 
guage and  luxuriant  allegories  of  the  GanticleS; 
which  represent  her  as  an  object  of  delight  to  the 
Supreme  Being,  theologians,  poets,  and  artists  had 
wrought  themselves  up  to  a  wild  pitch  of  enthu- 
siasm. In  such  passages  as  those  I  have  quoted 
above,  and  in  the  grand  old  Church  hymns,  we  find 
the  best  commentary  and  interpretation  of  the  sa- 
cred pictures  of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  cen- 
turies. Yet  during  the  thirteenth  century  there 
was  a  purity  in  the  spirit  of  the  worship  which  at 
once  inspired  and  regulated  the  forms  m  which  it 
was  manifested.  The  Annunciations  and  Nativities 
were  still  distinguished  by  a  chaste  and  sacred  sim- 
plicity. The  features  of  the  Madonna  herself,  even 
where  they  were  not  what  we  call  beautiful,  had 
yet  a  touch  of  that  divine  and  contemplative  grace 
which  the  theologians  and  the  poets  had  associated 
with  the  queenly,  maternal,  and  bridal  character 
of  Mary. 

Thus  the  impulses  given  in  the  early  part  of  the 
fourteenth  century  continued  in  progressive  devel- 
opment through  the  fifteenth ;  the  spiritual  for  some 
time  in  advance  of  the  material  influences ;  the 
moral  idea  emanating  as  it  were  from  the  soul,  and 
the  influences  of  external  nature  flowing  into  it ; 
the  comprehensive  power  of  fancy  using  more  and 
more  the  apprehensive  power  of  imitation,  and 
both  working  together  till  their  "  blended  might  * 
achieved  its  full  fruition  in  the  works  of  Raphael. 

Early  in  the  fifteenth  century,  the  Council  of 
Constance  (a.  d.  1414),  and  the  condemnation  of 
Hu88,  gave  a  new  impulse  to  the  worship  of  thi 


INTRODUCTION.  87 

Virgin.  The  Hussite  wars,  and  the  sacrilegious 
indignity  with  which  her  sacred  images  had  been 
treated  in  the  north,  filled  her  orthodox  votaries  of 
the  south  of  Europe  with  a  consternation  and  hor- 
ror like  that  excited  by  the  Iconoclasts  of  the  eighth 
century,  and  were  followed  by  a  similar  reaction 
The  Church  was  called  upon  to  assert  more  strongly 
than  ever  its  orthodox  veneration  for  her,  and,  aa 
a  natural  consequence,  votive  pictures  multiplied 
the  works  of  the  excelling  artists  of  the  fifteenth 
century  testify  to  the  zeal  of  the  votaries,  and  the 
kindred  spirit  in  which  the  painters  worked. 

Gerson,  a  celebrated  French  priest,  and  chancel- 
lor of  the  university  of  Paris,  distinguished  himself 
in  the  Council  of  Constance  by  the  eloquence  with 
which  he  pleaded  for  the  Immaculate  Conception, 
and  the  enthusiasm  with  which  he  preached  in 
favour  of  instituting  a  festival  in  honour  of  thia 
mystery,  as  well  as  another  in  honour  of  Joseph, 
the  husband  of  the  Virgin.  In  both  he  was  unsuc- 
cessful during  his  lifetime  ;  but  for  both  eventually 
his  writings  prepared  the  way.  He  also  composed 
a  Latin  poem  of  three  thousand  lines  in  praise  of 
Joseph,  which  was  among  the  first  works  published 
after  the  invention  of  printing.  Together  with  St 
Joseph,  the  parents  of  the  Virgin,  St.  Anna  more 
particularly,  became  objects  of  popular  veneration, 
and  all  were  at  length  exalted  to  the  rank  of  patron 
saints,  by  having  festivals  instituted  in  their  honour. 
It  is  towards  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  or 
rather  a  little  later,  that  we  first  meet  with  that 
charming  domestic  group,  called  the  "  Holy  Fam- 
ily," afterwards  so  popular,  so  widely  diffused,  and 
treated  with  such  an  infinite  variety. 

Towards  the  end  of  this  century  sprung  up  a  new 
mfluence,  —  the  revival  of  classical  learning,  a  pas- 
sionate enthusiasm  for  the  poetry  and  mythology  of 
the  Greeks,  and  a  taste  for  the  remains  of  antique 


88  INTRODUCTION. 

art.  This  influence  on  the  representations  of  the 
Virgin,  as  far  as  it  was  merely  external,  was  good. 
An  added  dignity  and  grace,  a  more  free  and  cor- 
rect drawing,  a  truer  feeling  for  harmony  of  pro- 
portion and  all  that  constitutes  elegance,  were  grad- 
ually infused  mto  the  forms  and  attitudes.  But 
dangerous  became  the  craving  for  mere  beauty,  — 
dangerous  the  study  of  the  classical  and  heathen 
literature.  This  was  the  commencement  of  that 
thoroughly  pagan  taste  which  in  the  following  cen- 
tury demoralized  Christian  art.  There  was  now  an 
attempt  at  varymg  the  arrangement  of  the  sacred 
groups  which  led  to  irreverence,  or  at  best  to  a  sort 
of  superficial  mannered  grandeur;  and  from  thii 
period  we  date  the  first  introduction  of  the  portrait 
virgins.  An  early,  and  most  scandalous  example 
remains  to  us  in  one  of  the  frescoes  in  the  Vatican, 
which  represents  Giulia  Farnese  in  the  character 
of  the  Madonna,  and  Pope  Alexander  VI.  (the  infa- 
mous Borgia)  kneeling  at  her  feet  in  the  character 
of  a  votary.  Under  the  influence  of  the  Medici  the 
churches  of  Florence  were  filled  with  pictures  of  the 
Virgin,  in  which  the  only  thing  aimed  at  was  an  allur- 
ing and  even  meretricious  beauty.  Savonarola  thun- 
dered from  his  pulpit  in  the  garden  of  San  Marco 
against  these  impieties.  He  exclaimed  against  the 
profaneness  of  those  who  represented  the  meek 
mother  of  Christ  in  gorgeous  apparel,  with  head  un- 
veiled, and  under  the  features  of  women  too  well  and 
publicly  known.  He  emphatically  declared  that  if 
the  painters  knew  as  well  as  he  did  the  influence 
of  such  pictures  in  perverting  simple  minds,  they 
would  hold  their  own  works  in  horror  and  detesta- 
tion. Savonarola  yielded  to  none  in  orthodox  rev- 
erence for  the  Madonna ;  but  he  desired  that  she 
should  be  represented  in  an  orthodox  manner.  He 
perished  at  the  stake,  but  not  till  after  he  had  made 
%  bonfire  in  the  Piazza  at  Florence  of  the  offensive 
•flSgies ;  he  perished  —  persecuted  to  death  by  tht 


INTRODUCTION.  SS 

Borgia  family.  But  his  influence  on  the  greatest 
Florentine  artists  of  his  time  is  apparent  in  the  Vir- 
gins of  Botticelli,  Lorenzo  di  Credi,  and  Fra  Bar- 
tolomeo,  all  of  whom  had  been  his  friends,  admirers, 
and  disciples:  and  all,  differing  from  each  other, 
were  alike  in  this,  that,  whether  it  be  the  dignified 
severity  of  Botticelli,  or  the  chaste  simplicity  of 
Lorenzo  di  Credi,  or  the  noble  tenderness  of  Fra 
Bartolomeo,  we  feel  that  each  of  them  had  aimed  to 
portray  worthily  the  sacred  character  of  the  Mother 
of  the  Redeemer.  And  to  these,  as  I  think,  we 
might  add  Raphael  himself,  who  visited  Florence 
but  a  short  time  after  the  horrible  execution  of  Sa- 
vonarola, and  must  have  learned  through  his  friend 
Bartolomeo  to  mourn  the  fate  and  revere  the  mem- 
ory of  that  remarkable  man,  whom  he  placed  after- 
wards in  the  grand  fresco  of  the  "  Theolo^ia,** 
among  the  doctors  and  teachers  of  the  Church. 
(Rome,  Vatican.)  Of  the  numerous  Virgins  paint- 
ed by  Raphael  in  after  times,  not  one  is  supposed 
to  have  been  a  portrait :  he  says  himself,  in  a  letter 
to  Count  Castiglione,  that  he  painted  from  an  idea 
in  his  own  mind,  "  mi  servo  d'  una  certa  idea  che 
mi  viene  in  mente ; "  while  iu  the  contemporary 
works  of  Andrea  del  Sarto,  Ave  have  the  features  of 
his  handsome  but  vulgar  wife  in  every  Madonna  he 
painted.* 

In  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the 
constellation  of  living  genius  in  every  department 
of  art,  the  riches  of  the  Church,  the  luxurious  hab- 
its and  classical  studies  of  the  churchmen,  the  de- 
cline of  religious  conviction,  and  the  ascendency 
of  religious  controversy,  had  combined  to  multiply 
church  pictures,  particularly  those  of  a  large  and 

^Thfc  tendency  to  portraiture,  in  early  Florentine  and  German 
»rt,  is  observable  from  an  early  period.  The  historical  sacred 
subjects  of  Masaccio,  Qhirlandajo,  and  Van  Eyck,  are  crowded 
with  portraits  of  living  personages.  Their  introduction  into  de 
Totional  subjects,  in  the  character  of  sacred  persons,  is  far  leflf 
excusable . 


10  INTR01>U0TI0N. 

decorative  character.  But,  instead  of  the  reign  of 
faith,  we  had  now  the  reign  of  taste.  There  was  an 
absolute  passion  for  picturesque  grouping ;  and,  as 
the  assembled  figures  were  to  be  as  varied  as  possi- 
ble in  action  and  attitude,  the  artistic  treatment,  in 
order  to  prevent  the  lines  of  form  and  the  colouri 
of  the  draperies  from  interfering  with  each  other, 
required  great  skill  and  profound  study :  some  of 
these  scenic  groups  have  become,  in  the  hands  of 
great  painters,  such  as  Titian,  Paul  Veronese,  ana 
Annibale  Caracci,  so  magnificent,  that  we  are  in- 
clined to  forgive  their  splendid  errors.  The  influ- 
ence of  Sanazzaro,  and  of  his  famous  Latin  poem 
on  the  Nativity  Q'-De  Partu  Virginis  "),  on  the  artisti 
of  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  on  the 
choice  and  treatment  of  the  subjects  pertaining  tc^ 
the  Madonna,  can  hardly  be  calculated ;  it  was  liki/ 
that  of  Dante  in  the  fourteenth  century,  but  in  i\j 
nature  and  result  how  difierent !  The  grand  mate^ 
rialism  of  Michael  Angelo  is  supposed  to  have  beea 
allied  to  the  genius  of  Dante ;  but  would  Dante 
have  acknowledged  the  group  of  the  Holy  Family 
in  the  Florentine  Gallery,  to  my  feeling,  one  of  the 
most  profane  and  offensive  of  the  so-called  religious 
pictures,  in  conception  and  execution,  which  ever 
proceeded  from  the  mind  or  hand  of  a  great  paint- 
er ?  No  doubt  some  of  the  sculptural  Virgins  of 
Michael  Angelo  are  magnificent  and  stately  in  atti- 
tude and  expression,  but  too  austere  and  mannered 
as  religious  conceptions  :  nor  can  we  wonder  if  the 
predilection  for  the  treatment  of  mere  form  led  hia 
followers  and  imitators  into  every  species  of  exag- 
geration and  affectation.  In  the  middle  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  the  same  artist  who  painted  a 
Leda,  or  a  Psyche,  or  a  Venus  one  day,  painted  for 
the  same  patron  a  Virgin  of  Mercy,  or  a  *'  Mater 
Purissima  "  on  the  morrow.  Here,  the  votary  tolA 
his  beads,  and  recited  his  JL  res,  tdfore  the  blessed 
Mother  of  the  Redeemei- ,  CU/<:,  i^  was  invoked 


INTRODUCTION.  41 

in  the  pui'est  Latin  by  titles  which  the  classical 
mythology  had  far  otherwise  consecrated.  I  know 
nothing  more  disgusting  in  art  than  the  long-limbed, 
studied,  inflated  Madonnas,  looking  grand  with  all 
their  might,  of  this  period  ;  luckily  they  have  fallen 
jinto  such  disrepute  that  we  seldom  see  them.  The 
"  Madonna  dell*  lungo  Collo  "  of  Parmigiano  might 
be  cited  as  a  favourable  example  of  this  mistaken 
and  wholly  artificial  grace.  (Florence,  Pitti  Pal.) 
But  in  the  midst  of  these  paganized  and  degener- 
ate influences,  the  reform  in  the  discipline  of  the  Ro- 
man Catholic  Church  was  preparing  a  revolution  in 
religious  art.  The  Council  of  Trent  had  severely  de- 
nounced the  impropriety  of  certain  pictures  admitted 
into  churches  :  at  the  same  time,  in  the  conflict  of 
creed  which  now  divided  Christendom,  the  agencies 
of  art  could  not  safely  be  neglected  by  that  Church 
which  had  used  them  with  such  signal  success.  Spir- 
itual art  was  indeed  no  more.  It  was  dead :  it  could 
never  be  revived  without  a  return  to  those  modes  of 
thought  and  belief  which  had  at  first  inspired  it. 
Instead  of  religious  art,  appeared  what  I  must  call 
theological  art.  Among  the  events  of  this  age, 
which  had  great  influence  on  the  worship  and  the 
representations  of  the  Madonna,  I  must  place  the 
battle  of  Lepanto,  in  1571,  in  which  the  combined 
fleets  of  Christendom,  led  by  Don  Juan  of  Austria, 
achieved  a  memorable  victory  over  the  Turks.  Thia 
victory  was  attributed  by  Pope  Pius  V.  to  the  espe- 
cial interposition  of  the  Blessed  Virgin.  A  new 
invocation  was  now  added  to  her  Litany,  under 
the  title  of  Auxilium  Christianorum  ;  a  new  festival, 
that  of  the  Rosary,  was  now  added  to  those  already 
held  in  her  honour ;  and  all  the  artistic  genius 
which  existed  in  Italy,  and  all  the  piety  of  ortho- 
dox Christendom,  were  now  laid  under  contribution 
to  incase  in  marble  sculpture,  to  enrich  with  count- 
less offerings,  that  miraculous  liOusQ,  which  the  an- 
gels had  borne  over  land  ana  i&a^  and  set  down 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

at  Loretto;  and  that  miraculous,  bejewelled,  ana 
brocaded  Madonna,  enshrined  within  it» 

In  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the 
Caracci  school  gave  a  new  impetus  to  religious,  or 
rather,  as  it  has  been  styled  in  contradistinction, 
pacerdotal  or  theological  art.  If  these  great  paint- 
ers had  been  remarkable  merely  for  the  application 
of  new  artistic  methods,  for  the  success  with  which 
they  combined  the  aims  of  various  schools  — 

"  Di  Michel  Angiol  la  terribil  via 
E  '1  vero  natural  di  Tiziano," 

the  study  of  the  antique  with  the  observation  of 
real  life, —  their  works  undoubtedly  would  never 
have  taken  such  a  hold  on  the  minds  of  their  con- 
temporaries, nor  kept  it  so  long.  Everything  to 
live  must  have  an  infusion  of  truth  within  it,  and 
this  "  patchwork  ideal,"  as  it  has  been  well  styled, 
was  held  together  by  such  a  principle.  The  foun- 
ders of  the  Caracci  school,  and  their  immediate  fol- 
lowers, felt  the  influences  of  the  time,  and  worked 
fchem  out.  They  were  devout  believers  in  their 
Church,  and  most  sincere  worshippers  of  the  Madon- 
na. Guido,  in  particular,  was  so  distinguished  by 
his  passionate  enthusiasm  for  her,  that  he  was  sup- 
posed to  have  been  favoured  by  a  particular  vision, 
which  enabled  him  more  worthily  to  represent  her 
divine  beauty. 

It  is  curious  that,  hand  in  hand  with  this  develop- 
ment of  taste  and  feeUng  in  the  appreciation  of  nat- 
ural sentiment  and  beauty,  and  this  tendency  to 
realism,  we  find  the  associations  of  a  peculiar  and 
specific  sanctity  remaining  with  the  old  Byzantine 
type.  This  arose  from  the  fact,  always  to  be  borne 
in  mind,  that  the  most  ancient  artistic  figure  of 
the  Madonna  was  a  purely  theological  symbol :  ap 
parently  the  moral  type  was  too  nearly  allied  to 
the  human  ani  the  real  to  satisfy  faith.    V  is  the 


INTRODUCTION.  4S 

Igly,  (lark-coloured,  ancient  Greek  Madonnas,  sucla 
as  tills,  which  had  all  along  the  credit  of  being  mi- 
raculous ;  and  "  to  this  day,"  says  Kugler,  "  th« 
Neapolitan  lemonade-seller  will  allow  no  other  than 
a  formal  Greek  Madonna,  with  olive-green  com- 
plexion and  veiled  head,  to  be  set  up  in  his  booth.* 
It  is  the  same  in  Russia.  Such  pictures,  in  which 
there  is  no  attempt  at  representation,  real  or  ideal, 
and  which  merely  have  a  sort  of  imaginary  sanctity 
and  power,  are  not  so  much  idols  as  they  are  mere 
Fetishes.  The  most  lovely  Madonna  by  Raphael 
or  Titian  would  not  have  the  same  effect.  Guide, 
who  himself  painted  lovely  Virgins,  went  every  Sat- 
urday to  pray  before  the  little  black  Madonna  della 
Guardia,  and,  as  we  are  assured,  held  this  old  East- 
ern relic  in  devout  veneration. 

In  the  pictures  of  the  Madonna,  produced  by  the 
most  eminent  painters  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
is  embodied  the  theology  of  the  time.  The  Virgin 
Mary  is  not,  like  the  Madonna  di  San  Sisto,  "  a 
single  projection  of  the  artist's  mind,"  but,  as  far  as 
he  could  put  his  studies  together,  she  is  "  a  com- 
pound of  every  creature's  best,"  sometimes  majes- 
tic, sometimes  graceful,  often  full  of  sentiment,  ele- 
gance, and  refinement,  but  wanting  wholly  in  the 
spiritual  element.  If  the  Madonna  did  really  sit  to 
Guido  in  person,  (see  Malvasia,  "  Felsina  Pittrice,") 
we  fancy  she  must  have  revealed  her  loveliness,  but 
veiled  her  divinity. 

Without  doubt  the  finest  Madonnas  of  the  seven- 
^enth  century  are  those  produced  by  the  Spanish 
ichool ;  not  because  they  more  realize  our  spiritual 
3onception  of  the  Virgin  —  quite  the  contrary :  for 
here  the  expression  of  life  through  sensation  and 
emotion  prevails  over  abstract  mind,  grandeur,  and 
grace ;  —  but  because  the  intensely  human  and 
lympathetic  character  given  to  the  Madonna  ap- 
pals most  strongly  to  our  human  nature.  Tha 
ippeal  is  to  the  faith  through  the  feelings,  rathei 


14  INTRODUCTION. 

than  through  the  imagination.  Morales  and  Ribera 
excelled  in  the  Mater  Dolorosa ;  and  who  has  sur- 
passed Murillo  in  the  tender  exultation  of  mater- 
nity ?  *  There  is  a  freshness  and  a  depth  of  feeling 
in  the  best  Madonnas  of  the  late  Spanish  school 
which  puts  to  shame  the  mannerism  of  the  Italians, 
and  the  naturalism  of  the  Flemish  painters  of  the 
same  period ;  and  this  because  the  Spaniards  were 
intense  and  enthusiastic  believers,  not  mere  think- 
ers, in  art  as  in  religion. 

As  in  the  sixth  century,  the  favourite  dogi^na  of 
the  time  (the  union  of  the  divine  and  human  nak- 
ture  in  Christ,  and  the  dignity  of  Mary  as  parent 
of  both)  had  been  embodied  in  the  group  of  the 
Virgin  and  Child,  so  now,  in  the  seventeenth,  the 
doctrine  of  the  eternal  sanctification  and  predes- 
tination of  Mary  was,  after  a  long  controversy, 
triumphant,  and  took  form  in  the  "  Immaculate 
Conception ; "  that  beautiful  subject  in  which  Guido 
and  Murillo  excelled,  and  which  became  the  darling 
theme  of  the  later  schools  of  art.  It  is  worthy  of 
remark,  that  while  in  the  sixth  century,  and  for  a 
thousand  years  afterwards,  the  Virgin,  in  all  devo- 
tional subjects,  was  associated  in  some  visible  man- 
ner with  her  divine  Son,  in  this  she  appears  without 
the  Infant  in  her  arms.  The  maternal  character  is 
set  aside,  and  she  stands  alone,  absolute  in  herself, 
and  complete  in  her  own  perfections.  This  is  a 
very  significant  characteristic  of  the  prevalent  the- 
ology of  the  time. 

I  forbear  to  say  much  of  the  productions  of  a 
school  of  art  which  sprung  up  simultaneously  with 
that  of  the  Caracci,  and  in  the  end  overpowered  ita 
higher  aspirations.  The  Naturalistic  as  they  were 
sailed,  imitated  nature  without  selection,  and  pro- 
duced some  charming  painters.  But  their  religious 
pictures  are  almost  all  intolerable,  and  their  Ma» 

*  See  in  the  Handbook  to  the  Private  Galleries  of  Art  som« 
•marks  on  the  tendencies  of  the  Spanish  School,  p  172 


INTRODUCTION.  4i 

ionnas  are  almost  all  portraits.  Rubena  and  Al- 
bano  painted  their  wives;  Allori  and  Yandyck 
their  mistresses ;  Domenichino  his  daughter.  Sal- 
vator  Rosa,  in  his  Satires,  exclaims  against  this 
general  profaneness  in  terms  not  less  strong  thaiv 
those  of  Savonarola  in  his  Sermons ;  but  the  cor- 
ruption was  by  this  time  beyond  the  reach  of  cure ; 
the  sin  could  neither  be  preached  nor  chided  away. 
Striking  effects  of  light  and  shade,  pecuhar  atti- 
tudes, scenic  groups,  the  perpetual  and  dramatic 
introduction  of  legendary  scenes  and  personages, 
of  visions  and  miracles  of  the  Madonna  vouchsafed 
to  her  votaries,  characterize  the  productions  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  As  "they  who  are  whole 
need  not  a  physician,  but  they  who  are  sick,"  so  in 
proportion  to  the  decline  of  faith  were  the  excite- 
ments to  faith,  or  rather  to  credulity:  just  in  pro- 
portion as  men  were  less  inclined  to  believe  were 
the  wonders  multipHed  which  they  were  called  on 
to  believe. 

I  have  not  spoken  of  the  influence  of  Jesuitism 
on  art.  This  Order  kept  alive  that  devotion  for 
the  Madonna  which  their  great  founder  Loyola 
had  so  ardently  professed  when  he  chose  for  the 
"  Lady  "  of  his  thoughts,  "  no  princess,  no  duchess, 
but  one  far  greater,  more  peerless."  The  learning 
of  the  Jesuits  supplied  some  themes  not  hitherto  in 
use,  principally  of  a  fanciful  and  allegorical  kind, 
ind  never  had  the  meek  Mary  been  so  decked  out 
with  earthly  ornament  as  in  their  church  pictures. 
If  the  sanctification  of  simplicity,  gentleness,  ma- 
ternal love,  and  heroic  fortitude,  were  calculated 
to  elevate  the  popular  mind,  the  sanctification  of 
mere  glitter  and  ornament,  embroidered  robes,  and 
jewelled  crowns,  must  have  tended  to  degrade  it. 
It  is  surely  an  unworthy  and  a  foolish  excuse  that, 
m  thus  desecrating  with  the  vainest  and  most  vul- 
gar finery  the  beautiful  idaal  of  the  Virgin,  an  ap- 
peal was  made  to  the  awe  and  admira  Mi  of  vulgar 
4 


19  INTHODUCTIOX. 

and  ignorant  minds;  for  this  is  precisely  what,  in 
all  rehgious  iniagery,  should  be  avoided.  As,  how* 
ever,  this  sacrilegious  millinery  does  not  come  within 
Ihe  province  of  the  fine  arts,  I  may  pass  it  over 
here. 

Among  the  Jesuit  prints  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury,  I  remember  one  which  represents  the  Virgin 
and  Child  in  the  centre,  and  around  are  the  most 
famous  heretics  of  all  ages,  lying  prostrate,  or  hang- 
ing by  the  neck.  Julian  the  Apostate;  Leo  the 
Isaurian ;  his  son,  Constantine  Capronymus  ;  Arius ; 
Nestori'is  ;  Manicheus ;  Luther ;  Calvin  :  —  very 
characteristic  of  the  age  of  controversy  which  had 
succeeded  to  the  age  of  faith,  when,  instead  of  sol- 
emn saints  and  grateful  votaries,  we  have  dead  or 
dying  heretics  surrounding  the  Mother  of  Mercy  I 


After  this  rapid  sketch  of  the  influences  which 
modified  in  a  general  way  the  pictures  of  the  Ma- 
donna, we  may  array  before  us,  and  learn  to  com- 
pare, the  types  which  distinguished  in  a  more  par- 
ticular manner  the  separate  schools,  caught  from 
some  more  local  or  individual  impulses.  Thus  'ure 
have  the  stern,  awful  quietude  of  the  old  Mosaics ; 
the  hard  lifelessness  of  the  degenerate  Greek  ;  the 
pensive  sentiment  of  the  Siena,  and  stately  ole- 
gance  of  the  Florentine  Madonnas ;  the  intellectual 
Milanese,  with  their  large  foreheads  and  thoughtful 
eyes ;  the  tender,  refined  mysticism  of  the  TJm- 
brian ;  the  sumptuous  loveliness  of  the  Venetian ; 
ihe  quaint,  characteristic  simplicity  of  the  early 
German,  so  stamped  with  their  nationality,  that  I 
never  looked  round  me  in  a  room  full  of  German 
girls  without  thinking  of  Albert  Durer's  Vir/pns ; 
the  intense  life-like  feeling  of  the  Spanish ;  the 
prosaic,  portrait-like  nature  of  the  Flemish  schools 
and  so  on.     But  here  an  obvious  question  suggesti 


INTRODUCTION.  47 

itself.  In  Ibe  midst  of  all  this  diversity,  these  ever- 
changing  influences,  was  there  no  characteristic 
type  universally  accepted,  suggested  by  common 
religious  associations,  if  not  defined  by  ecclesiasti- 
cal authority,  to  which  the  artist  was  bound  to  con- 
form? How  is  it  that  the  impersonation  of  the 
Virgin  fluctuated,  not  only  with  the  fluctuating 
tendencies  of  successive  ages,  but  even  with  the 
caprices  of  the  individual  artist  ? 

This  leads  us  back  to  reconsider  the  sources 
fi'om  which  the  artist  drew  his  inspiration. 

The  legend  which  represents  St.  Luke  the  Evan* 
gelist  as  a  painter  appears  to  be  of  Eastern  origin, 
and  quite  unknown  in  Western  Europe  before  the 
first  crusade.  It  crept  in  then,  and  was  accepted 
with  many  other  oriental  superstitions  and  tradi- 
tions. It  may  have  originated  in  the  real  existence 
of  a  Greek  painter  named  Luca  —  a  saint,  too,  he 
may  have  been ;  for  the  Greeks  have  a  whole  cal- 
endar of  canonized  artists,  —  painters,  poets,  and 
musicians;  and  this  Greek  San  Luca  may  have 
been  a  painter  of  those  Madonnas  imported  from 
the  ateliers  of  Mount  Athos  into  the  West  by  mer- 
chants and  pilgrims ;  and  the  West,  which  knew 
but  of  one  St.  Luke,  may  have  easily  confounded 
the  painter  and  the  evangelist. 

But  we  must  also  remember,  that  St.  Luke  the 
Evangelist  was  early  regarded  as  the  great  author- 
ity with  respect  to  the  few  Scripture  particulars 
relating  to  the  character  and  life  of  Mary ;  so  that, 
in  the  figurative  sense,  he  may  be  said  to  have 
oainted  that  portrait  of  her  which  has  been  since 
received  as  the  perfect  type  of  womanhood; — 1. 
Her  noble,  trustful  humility,  when  she  receives  the 
Balutation  of  the  angel  (Luke  i.  38) ;  the  complete 
and  feminine  surrender  of  her  whole  being  to  the 
higher,  holier  will  —  "  Be  it  unto  me  according  to 
thy  word."  2.  Then,  the  decision  and  prudence 
af  character,  shown  in  her  viait  to  Elizal)eth,  her 


48  INTRODUCTION. 

older  relative ;  her  journey  in  haste  over  the  hills 
to  consult  with  her  cousin,  which  journey  it  if 
otherwise  difficult  to  accord  with  the  oriental  cus- 
toms of  the  time,  unless  Mary,  young  as  she  was, 
had  possessed  unusual  promptitude  and  energy  of 
disposition.  (Luke  i.  39,  40.)  3.  The  proof  of 
her  intellectual  power  in  the  beautiful  hymn  she 
has  left  us,  "ik/z/  soul  doth  magnify  the  Lord." 
(Luke  i.  46.)  The  commentators  are  not  agreed 
as  to  whether  this  eflfusion  was  poured  forth  by 
immediate  inspiration,  or  composed  and  written 
down,  because  the  same  words,  "  and  Mary  said,' 
may  be  interpreted  in  either  sense  ;  but  we  can  nj 
more  doubt  her  being  the  authoress,  than  we  can 
doubt  of  any  other  particulars  recorded  in  the 
same  Gospel:  it  proves  that  she  must  have  been, 
for  her  time  and  country,  most  rarely  gifted  in 
mind,  and  deeply  read  in  the  Scriptures.  4.  She 
was  of  a  contemplative,  reflecting,  rather  silent 
disposition.  "  She  kept  all  these  sayings,  and  pon- 
dered them  in  her  heart."  (Luke  ii.  51.)  She 
made  no  boast  of  that  wondrous  and  most  blessed 
destiny  to  which  she  was  called  ;  she  thought  upon 
it  in  silence.  It  is  inferred  that  as  many  of  these 
sayings  and  events  could  be  known  to  herself  alone, 
St.  Luke  the  Evangelist  could  have  learned  them 
only  from  her  own  lips.  5.  Next  her  truly  mater- 
nal devotion  to  her  divine  Son,  whom  she  attended 
humbly  through  his  whole  ministry  ;  *  6.  and  lastly, 
the  sublime  fortitude  and  faith  with  which  she  fol- 
lowed her  Son  to  the  death  scene,  stood  beside  the 
cross  till  all  was  finished,  and  then  went  home,  and 

*  Milton  places  in  the  mouth  of  our  Saviour  an  allusion  to  thi 
bflnence  of  his  Mother  in  early  life :  — 

"  These  growing  thoughts  my  mother  soon  perceiying 
By  words  at  times  cast  forth,  inly  rejoiced, 
And  said  to  me  apart,  *  High  are  thy  thoughts, 
O  Son  ;  but  nourish  them,  and  let  them  soar 
To  what  height  sacred  virtue  and  true  worth 
Can  raise  them,  though  above  example  high.'  " 


INTRODUCTION.  45 

Uved  (I<uke  xxiii.) ;  for  she  was  to  be  to  us  an 
example  of  all  tba^>  a  woman  could  endure,  as  welJ 
%a  all  that  a  woman  could  be  and  act  out  in  her 
earthly  life.  (John  xix.  25.)  Such  was  the  char- 
acter of  Mary ;  such  the  portrait  really  painted  by 
St.  Luke ;  and,  as  it  seems  to  me,  these  scattered, 
artless,  unintentional  notices  of  conduct  and  char- 
acter converge  into  the  most  perfect  moral  type  of 
the  intellectual,  tender,  simple,  and  heroic  woman 
that  ever  was  placed  before  us  for  our  edification 
and  example. 

But  in  the  Church  traditions  and  enactments, 
another  character  was,  from  the  fifth  century,  as- 
signed to  her,  out  of  which  grew  the  theological 
type,  very  beautiful  and  exalted,  but  absorbing  to 
a  great  degree  the  scriptural  and  moral  type,  and 
substituting  for  the  merely  human  attributes  others 
borrowed  from  her  relation  to  the  great  scheme  of 
redemption;  for  it  was  contended  that,  as  the 
mother  of  the  Divine,  she  could  not  be  herself  less 
than  divine;  consequently  above  the  angels,  and 
first  of  all  created  beings.  According  to  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  her  tender 
woman's  wisdom  became  supernatural  gifts ;  the 
beautiful  humility  was  changed  into  a  knowledge 
of  her  own  predestined  glory;  and,  being  raised 
bodily  into  immortality,  and  placed  beside  her  Son, 
in  all  "  the  sacred  splendour  of  beneficence,"  she 
came  to  be  regarded  as  our  intercessor  before  that 
divine  Son,  who  could  refuse  nothing  to  his  mother. 
The  relative  position  of  the  Mother  and  Son  being 
spiritual  and  indestructible  was  continued  in  heav- 
en ;  and  thus  step  by  step  the  woman  was  trans- 
muted into  the  divinity. 

But,  like  her  Son,  Mary  had  walked  in  human 
form  upon  earth,  and  in  form  must  have  resembled 
her  Son ;  for,  as  it  is  argued,  Christ  had  no  earthly 
fether,  therefore  could  only  have  derived  his  human 
lineaments  from  his  mother.     Ail  the  old  legends 


50  INTRODUCTION. 

assume  Lhat  tlie  resemblance  between  the  Son  and 
the  Mother  must  have  been  perfect.  Dante  alludet 
to  this  belief: 

"  Riguarda  ormai  nella  faccia  ch'  a  Christo 
Piti  s'  assomiglia." 

"  Now  raise  thy  view 
Unto  the  visage  most  resembUng  Christ." 

The  accepted  type  of  the  head  of  Christ  was  to  be 
taken  as  a  model  in  its  mild,  intellectual  majesty, 
for  that  of  the  Virgin-mother,  as  far  as  difference 
of  sex  would  allow. 

In  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  Nicephorus  Callix* 
tus,  he  has  inserted  a  description  of  the  person  of 
Mary,  which  he  declares  to  have  been  given  by 
Epiphanius,  who  lived  in  the  fourth  century,  and 
by  him  derived  from  a  more  ancient  source.  It 
must  be  confessed,  that  the  type  of  person  here 
assigned  to  the  Virgin  is  more  energetic  for  a 
woman  than  that  which  has  been  assigned  to  our 
Saviour  as  a  man.  "  She  was  of  middle  stature  ; 
her  face  oval ;  her  eyes  brilliant,  and  of  an  olive 
tint ;  her  eyebrows  arched  and  black ;  her  hair  was 
of  a  pale  brown ;  her  complexion  fair  as  wheat 
She  spoke  little,  but  she  spoke  freely  and  affably ; 
she  was  not  troubled  in  her  speech,  but  grave, 
courteous,  tranquil.  Her  dress  was  without  orna- 
ment, and  in  her  deportment  was  nothing  lax  or 
feeble."  To  this  ancient  description  of  her  person 
and  manners,  we  are  to  add  the  scriptural  and 
popular  portrait  of  her  mind ;  the  gentleness,  the 
purity,  the  intellect,  power,  and  fortitude ;  the  gifts 
of  the  poetess  and  prophetess ;  the  humility  in 
which  she  exceeded  all  womankind.  Lastly,  we 
are  to  engraft  on  these  personal  and  moral  quali- 
ties, the  theological  attributes  which  the  Church, 
from  early  times,  had  assigned  to  her,  the  super- 
natural endowments  which  lifted  her  above  angeli 
ind  men:  —  all  these  were  to  be  comhined  int# 


INTRODUCTION.  51 

one  glorious  type  of  perfection.  Where  ?hall  w« 
§eek  this  highest,  holiest  impersonation !  Where 
has  it  been  attained,  or  even  approached  ?  Not, 
.  certainly,  in  the  mere  woman,  nor  yet  in  the  mere 
idol;  not  in  those  lovely  creations  which  awaken 
a  sympathetic  throb  of  tenderness;  nor  in  those 
stern,  motionless  types,  which  embody  a  dogma; 
not  in  the  classic  features  of  marble  goddesses, 
borrowed  as  models;  nor  in  the  painted  imagei 
which  stare  upon  us  from  tawdry  altars  in  flaxen 
wigs  and  embroidered  petticoats.     But  where  ? 

Of  course  we  each  form  to  ourselves  some  notion 
of  what  we  require ;  and  these  requirements  will 
be  as  diverse  as  our  natures  and  our  habits  of 
thought.  For  myself,  I  have  seen  my  own  ideal 
once,  and  only  once,  attained:  there,  where  Ra- 
phael—  inspired  if  ever  painter  was  inspired  — 
projected  on  the  space  before  him  that  wonderful 
creation  which  we  style  the  Madonna  di  San  Sisto 
(Dresden  Gal.)  ;  for  there  she  stands  —  the  trans- 
figured woman,  at  once  completely  human  and 
completely  divine,  an  abstraction  of  power,  purity, 
and  love,  poised  on  the  empurpled  air,  and  requir- 
ing no  other  support ;  looking  out,  with  her  melan- 
choly, loving  mouth,  her  slightly  dilated,  sibyUine 
eyes,  quite  through  the  universe,  to  the  end  and 
consummation  of  all  things ;  —  sad,  as  if  she  beheld 
afar  off  the  visionary  sword  that  was  to  reach  her 
heart  through  Him,  now  resting  as  enthroned  on 
that  heart ;  yet  already  exalted  through  the  homage 
of  the  redeemed  generations  who  were  to  salute 
her  as  Blessed.  Six  times  have  I  visited  the  city 
made  glorious  by  the  possession  of  this  treasure, 
and  as  often,  when  again  at  a  distance,  with  recol- 
lections disturbed  by  feeble  copies  and  prints,  I 
have  begun  to  think,  "  Is  it  so  indeed  ?  is  she  in- 
deed so  divine  ?  or  does  not  rather  the  imagination 
tncircle  her  with  a  halo  of  religion  and  poetry, 
*nd  lend  a  grace  which  is  not  really  there  ?  '*  and 


53  INTRODUCTION. 

as  often,  when  returned,  I  have  stood  before  it 
and  confessed  that  there  is  more  in  that  form  and 
face  than  I  had  ever  yet  conceived.  I  cannot  here 
talk  the  language  of  critics,  and  speak  of  this  pic- 
ture merely  as  a  picture,  for  to  me  it  was  a  revela- 
tion. In  the  same  gallery  is  the  lovely  Madonna 
of  the  Meyer  family;  inexpressibly  touching  and 
perfect  in  its  way,  but  conveying  only  one  of  the 
attributes  of  Mary,  her  benign  pity ;  while  the  Ma- 
donna di  San  Sisto  is  an  abstract  of  all.* 

The  poets  are  ever  the  best  commentators  on  the 
painters.  I  have  already  given  from  the  great 
"  singers  of  high  poems  "  in  the  fourteenth  century 
their  exposition  of  the  theological  type  of  the  Ma- 
donna. Now,  in  some  striking  passages  of  our 
modern  poets,  we  may  find  a  most  beautiful  com- 
mentary on  what  I  have  termed  the  moral  type. 

The  first  is  from  Wordsworth,  and  may  be  recited 
before  the  Madonna  di  San  Sisto :  — 

"  Mother !  whose  virgin  bosom  was  iincrost 
With  the  least  shade  of  thought  to  sin  allied  I 
"Woman!  above  all  women  glorified ; 
Out  tainted  nature's  solitary  boast; 
Purer  than  foam  on  central  ocean  tost; 
Brighter  than  eastern  skies  at  davbreak  strewn 
With  fancied  roses,  than  the  unblemish'd  moon 
Before  her  wane  begins  on  heaven's  blue  coast, 
Thy  Image  falls  to  earth.    Yet  some  I  ween, 
Not  unforgiven,  the  suppliant  knee  might  bend, 
As  to  a  visible  Power,  in  which  did  blend 
All  that  was  mix'd  and  reconcil'd  in  thee, 
Of  mother's  love  with  maiden  purity. 
Of  high  with  low,  celestial  virith  terrene." 

The  next,  from  Shelley,  reads  like  a  hymn  \\ 
Ikdnour  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  :  — 

*  Expression  is  the  great  and  characteristic  excellence  of  Raphael 
iiore  especially  in  his  Madonnas.  It  is  precisely  this  which  al 
eopies  and  engravings  render  at  best  most  imperfectly  :  and  i» 
point  of  expression  the  most  successful  engraving  of  the  Mk 
iDnna  di  San  Sisto  is  certainly  that  of  Steinla. 


INTRODUCTION.  If* 

Seraph  of  Heaven !  too  gentle  to  be  human, 

Veiling  beneath  that  radiant  form  of  woman 

All  that  is  insupportable  in  thee 

Of  light,  and  love,  and  immortality ! 

Sweet  Benediction  in  the  eternal  curse ! 

Veil'd  Glory  of  this  lampless  Universe! 

Thou  Moon  beyond  the  clouds !    Thou  living  Form 

Among  the  Dead !    Thou  Star  above  the  storm ! 

Thou  Wonder,  and  thou  Beauty,  and  thou  Terroi  I 

Thou  Harmony  of  Nature's  art !    Thou  Mirror 

In  whom,  as  in  the  splendour  of  the  Sun, 

All  shapes  look  glorious  which  thou  gazest  on  I " 

**  See  where  she.  stands !  a  mortal  shape  endued 
With  love,  and  life,  and  light,  and  deity ; 
The  motion  which  may  change  but  cannot  die, 
An  image  of  some  bright  eternity ; 
A  shadow  of  some  golden  dream ;  a  splendour 
Leaving  the  third  sphere  pilotless." 

I  do  not  know  whether  intentionally  or  not,  but  wa 
have  here  assembled  some  of  the  favourite  symbols 
of  the  Virgin  —  the  moon,  the  star,  the  "  terribUis 
ut  castrorum  acies"  (Cant.  vi.  10),  and  the  mirror. 
The  third  is  a  passage  from  Kobert  Browning, 
which  appears  to  me  to  sum  up  the  moral  ideal :  — 

"  There  is  a  vision  in  the  heart  of  each, 
Of  justice,  mercyj  wisdom,  tenderness 
To  wrong  and  pam,  and  knowledge  of  their  cure; 
And  these  embodied  in  a  woman's  form 
That  best  transmits  them  pure  as  first  received 
From  Grod  above  her  to  mankind  below ! " 


n.      SYMBOLS  AND  ATTRIBUTES  OF  THE  VIRGIN 

That  which  the  genius  of  the  greatest  of  painters 
only  once  expressed,  we  must  not  look  to  find  in  hii 
predecessors,  who  saw  only  partial  glimpses  of  the 
union  of  the  divine  and  human  in  the  feminine 
form;  still  less  in  his  degenerate  successors,  whc 
never  beheld  it  at  all. 

The  difficulty  of  fully  expressing  this  complei 


H  INTRODUCTION. 

Ideal,  and  the  allegorical  spirit  of  the  time,  first  sugt 
gested  the  expedient  of  placing  round  the  figure 
of  the  glorified  Virgin  certain  accessory  symbols, 
which  should  assist  the  artist  to  express,  and  the 
observer  to  comprehend,  what  seemed  beyond  the 
power  of  art  to  portray ;  —  a  language  of  metaphor 
then  understood,  and  which  we  also  must  understand 
if  we  would  seize  the  complete  theological  idea  in* 
tended  to  be  conveyed. 

I  shall  begin  with  those  symbols  which  are  boiv 
rowed  from  the  Litanies  of  the  Virgin,  and  from 
certain  texts  of  the  Canticles,  in  all  ages  of  the 
Church  applied  to  her ;  symbols  which,  in  the  fif- 
teenth and  sixteenth  centuries,  frequently  accom- 
pany those  representations  which  set  forth  her  Glori- 
fication or  Predestination ;  and,  in  the  seventeenth, 
are  introduced  into  the  "  Immaculate  Conception." 

1.  The  Sun  and  the  Moon.  —  "Electa  ut  Sol, 
pulchra  ut  Luna,"  is  one  of  the  texts  of  the  Can- 
ticles applied  to  Mary ;  and  also  in  a  passage  of 
the  Revelation,  "^  woman  clothed  with  the  sun, 
having  the  moon  under  her  feet,  and  on  her  head  a 
crown  of  twelve  stars."  Hence  the  radiance  of  the 
sun  above  her  head,  and  the  crescent  moon  beneath 
her  feet.  From  inevitable  association  the  crescent 
moon  suggests  the  idea  of  her  perpetual  chastity ; 
but  in  this  sense  it  would  be  a  pagan  rather  than  a 
Christian  attribute. 

2.  The  Star.  —  This  attribute,  often  embroid- 
ered in  front  of  the  veil  of  the  Virgin  or  on  the 
right  shoulder  of  her  blue  mantle,  has  become  al- 
most as  a  badge  from  which  several  well-known 
pictures  derive  their  title,  "  La  Madonna  della 
Stella."  It  is  in  the  first  place  an  attribute  allud- 
ing to  the  most  beautiful  and  expressive  of,hei 
many  titles  :  —  "  Stella  Maris"  Star  of  the  Sea,* 
which  is  one  interpretation  of  her  Jewish  name 

•  "Ave  Maris  Stella 
Itei  Mater  alma  !"fte 


INTRODUCTION  Sh 

Miriam :  but  she  is  also  "  Stella  Jacobiy**  the  Stai 
of  Jacob;  ^^  Stella  Matutina"  the  Morning  Star^ 
"  Stella  non  Erratica,''  the  Fixed  Star.  When,  in- 
•tead  of  the  single  star  on  her  veil  or  mantle,  she 
has  the  crown  of  twelve  stars,  the  allusion  is  to  the 
text  of  the  Apocalypse  already  quoted,  and  the 
number  of  stars  is  in  allusion  to  the  number  of  the 
Apostles.* 

3.  The  Lily.  —  "  7  aw  the  rose  of  Sharon,  and 
Uly  of  the  valleys"  (Cant.  ii.  1,  2.)  As  the  gen- 
eral  emblem  of  purity,  the  lily  is  introduced  into 
the  Annunciation,  where  it  ought  to  be  without 
stamens :  and  in  the  enthroned  Madonnas  it  is  fre- 
quently placed  in  the  hands  of  attendant  angels, 
more  particularly  in  the  Florentine  Madonnas  ;  the 
lily,  as  the  emblem  of  their  patroness,  being  chosen 
by  the  citizens  as  the  device  of  the  city.  For  the 
same  reason  it  became  that  of  the  French  monar- 
chy. Thorns  are  sometimes  interlaced  with  the  lily, 
to  express  the  " Lilium inter  Spinas"    (Cant.  ii.  2.) 

4.  The  Rose.  —  She  is  the  rose  of  Sharon,  as 
well  as  the  lily  of  the  valley ;  and  as  an  emblem  of 
love  and  beauty,  the  rose  is  especially  dedicated  to 
her.  The  plantation  or  garden  of  roses  f  is  often 
introduced  ;  sometimes  it  forms  the  background  of 
the  picture.  There  is  a  most  beautiful  example  in 
a  Madonna  by  Cesare  di  Sesto  (Milan,  Brera) ; 
and  another,  "  the  Madonna  of  the  Rose  Bush,"  by 
Martin  Schoen.     (Cathedral,  Colmar.) 

5.  The  Enclosed  Garden  (Hortus  conclusus) 
IS  an  image  borrowed,  like  many  others,  from  the 
Song  of  Solomon.  (Cant.  iv.  12.)  I  have  seen 
this  enclosed  garden  very  significantly  placed  in 
the  background  of  the  Annunciation,  and  in  pic* 
tures  of  the  Immaculate  Conception.  Sometime! 
the  enclosure  is  formed  of  a  treillage  or  hedge  of 

*"Iii  capite  inquit  ejus  corona  stellaram  dnodecim;  qniditf 
Soronent  sidera  quam  sol  vestit?  "  —  St.  Bernard. 
t  Quaai  plantatio  rosse  in  Jericbf 


56  INTllODUCTION. 

roses,  as  in  a  beautiful  Virgin  by  Francia.*  Some* 
times  it  is  merely  formed  of  stakes  or  palisades,  ai 
in  some  of  the  prints  by  Albert  Durer. 

The  Well  always  full ;  the  Fountain  forevef 
eealed;  the  Tower  of  David;  the  Temple  of  Sol- 
omon; the  City  of  David  (Civitas  sancta),  (Cant 
iv.  4,  12,  15) ;  all  these  are  attributes  borrowed 
from  the  Canticles,  and  are  introduced  into  picturei 
and  stained  glass. 

6.  The  Porta  Clausa,  the  Closed  Gate,  is  an- 
other metaphor,  taken  from  the  prophecy  of  Eze- 
kiel  (xliv.  4). 

7.  The  Cedar  of  Lebanon  (Cedrus  exaltata, 
*♦  exalted  as  a  cedar  in  Lebanon  "),  because  of  its 
height,  its  incorruptible  substance,  its  perfume,  and 
the  healing  virtues  attributed  to  it  in  the  East,  ex- 
presses the  greatness,  the  beauty,  the  goodness  of 
Mary. 

The  victorious  Palm,  the  Plantain  "  far  spread- 
ing," and  the  Cypress  pointing  to  heaven,  are  also 
emblems  of  the  Virgin. 

The  Olive,  as  a  sign  of  peace,  hope,  and  abun- 
dance, is  also  a  fitting  emblem  of  the  graces  of 
Mary.f 

8.  The  Stem  of  Jesse  (Isa.  xi.  1),  figured  as  a 
green  branch  entwined  with  flowers,  is  also  very 
significant. 

9.  The  Mirror  (^Specula  sine  macula)  is  a  met- 
aphor borrowed  from  the  Book  of  Wisdom  (viL 
25).  We  meet  with  it  in  some  of  the  late  picturei 
of  the  Immaculate  Conception. 

10.  The  Sealed  Book  is  also  a  symbol  often 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Virgin  in  a  mystical  An- 
nunciation, and  sufficiently  significant.  The  allu* 
won  is  to  the  text,  "  In  that  book  were  all  my  memo 

*  Manioh  Gal. ;  another  by  Antonio  ;la  Negroponte  In  the  Sat 
Francesco  dellaVigna  at  Venice,  is  alsc  an  instance  of  tliis  eignif 
^nt  background. 

t  Quasi  oliva  speciosa  in  campia 


INTRODUCTION.  57 

bers  written  ;**  and  also  to  the  text  in  Isaiah  (xxix. 
11,  12),  in  which  he  describes  the  vision  of  the 
Dook  that  was  sealed,  and  could  be  read  neither  by 
the  learned  nor  the  unlearned. 

11.  "  The  Bush  which  burned  and  was  not  con- 
sumed," is  introduced,  with  a  mystical  significance, 
into  an  Annunciation  by  Titian. 

Besides  these  symbols,  which  have  a  mystic  and 
■aored  significance,  and  are  applicable  to  the  Virgin 
only,  certain  attriljutes  and  accessories  are  intro- 
duced into  pictures  of  the  Madonna  and  Child, 
which  are  capable  of  a  more  general  interpretation. 

1.  The  Globe,  as  the  emblem  of  sovereignty, 
was  very  early  placed  in  the  hand  of  the  divine 
Child.  When  the  globe  is  under  the  feet  of  the 
Madonna  and  encircled  by  a  serpent,  as  in  some 
later  pictures,  it  figures  our  Redemption ;  her  tri- 
umph over  a  fallen  world  —  fallen  through  sin. 

2.  The  Serpent  is  the  general  emblem  of  Sin  or 
Satan ;  but  under  the  feet  of  the  Virgin  it  has  a  pe- 
cuUar  significance.  She  has  generally  her  foot  on 
the  head  of  the  reptile.  "She  shall  bruise  thy 
head,"  as  it  is  interpreted  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.* 

3.  The  Apple,  which  of  all  the  attributes  is  the 
most  common,  signifies  the  fall  of  man,  which  made 
Redemption  necessary.  It  is  sometimes  placed  in 
thv3  hands  of  the  Child;  but  when  in  the  hand 
ijf  the  Mother,  she  is  then  designated  as  the  second 
Eve-t 

4.  The  Pomegranate,  with  the  seeds  displayed, 
was  the  ancient  emblem  of  hope,  and  more  particu- 
larly of  religious  hope.  It  is  often  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  Child,  who  sometimes  presents  it  ta 
his  Mother. 

Other  fruits  and  flowers,  always  beautiful  acces* 

♦  Ipsa  conteret  caput  tuum. 

t  Mors  per  Eyam    yita  per  Mariam, 


M  INTRODUCTION. 

lories,  are  frequently  introduced  according  to  the 
fcaste  of  the  artist.  But  fruits  in  a  general  sense 
signified  "the  fruits  of  the  Spirit — joy,  peace, 
love ; "  and  flowers  were  consecrated  to  the  Vir- 
gin :  hence  we  yet  see  them  placed  before  her  as 
offerings. 

5.  Ears  of  Wheat  in  the  hand  of  the  Infant 
(as  in  a  lovely  little  Madonna  by  Ludovico  Ca- 
racci)*  figured  the  bread  in  the  Eucharist,  and 
Grapes  the  wine. 

6.  The  Book.  — In  the  hand  of  the  Infant  Christ, 
the  book  is  the  Gospel  in  a  general  sense,  or  it  is 
the  Book  of  Wisdom.  In  the  hand  of  the  Madonna, 
it  may  have  one  of  two  meanings.  When  open,  or 
when  she  has  her  finger  between  the  leaves,  or 
when  the  Child  is  turning  over  the  pages,  then  it  is 
the  Book  of  Wisdom,  and  is  always  supposed  to  be 
open  at  the  seventh  chapter.  When  the  book  is 
clasped  or  sealed,  it  is  a  mystical  symbol  of  the 
Virgin  herself,  as  I  have  already  explained. 

7.  The  Dove,  as  the  received  emblem  of  the 
Holy  Splnt,  is  properly  placed  above,  as  hovering 
over  the  Virgin.  There  is  an  exception  to  this  rule 
in  a  very  interesting  picture  in  the  Louvre,  where 
the  Holy  Dove  (with  the  nimbus)  is  placed  at  the 
feet  of  the  Child.f  This  is  so  unusual,  and  so  con- 
trary to  all  the  received  proprieties  of  religious  art, 
that  I  think  the  nimbus  may  have  been  added  after- 
wards. 

The  seven  doves  round  the  head  of  the  Virgin 
signify  the  seven  gifts  of  the  Spirit.  These  char- 
acterize her  as  personified  Wisdom  —  the  Matei 
Sapientias. 

Doves  placed  near  Mary  when  she  is  reading,  oi 
at  work  in  the  temple,  are  expressive  of  her  gen. 
tleness  and  tenderness. 

•  Lansdowne  Collection.  There  was  another  exactly  similw 
m  the  collection  of  Mr.  Rogers. 

The  Virgin  has  the  air  of  a  gipsy.    (Louvre,  515.) 


INTRODUCTION.  5J 

8.  BiKBS.  —  The  bird  in  the  Egyptian  hiero- 
glyphics signified  the  soul  of  man.  In  the  very 
ancient  pictures  there  can  be  no  doubt,  I  think, 
that  the  bird  in  the  hand  of  Christ  figured  the  soul, 
or  the  spiritual  as  opposed  to  the  material.  But,  in 
the  later  pictures,  the  original  meaning  being  lost, 
birds  became  mere  ornamental  accessories,  or  play- 
things. Sometimes  it  is  a  parrot  from  the  East, 
sometimes  a  partridge  (the  partridge  is  frequent  in 
the  Venetian  pictures) :  sometimes  a  goldfinch,  aa 
in  Raphael's  Madonna  del  Cardellino.  In  a  Ma- 
donna by  Guercino,  the  Mother  holds  a  bird  perched 
on  her  hand,  and  the  Child,  with  a  most  naive  in- 
fantine expression,  shrinks  back  from  it.*  In  a 
picture  by  Baroccio,  he  holds  it  up  before  a  cat 
(Nat.  Gal.  29),  so  completely  were  the  original 
symbolism  and  all  the  religious  proprieties  of  art  at 
this  time  set  aside. 

Other  animals  are  occasionally  introduced.  Ex- 
tremely offensive  are  the  apes  when  admitted  into 
devotional  pictures.  We  have  associations  with 
the  animal  as  a  mockery  of  the  human,  which  ren- 
der it  a  very  disagreeable  accessory.  It  appears 
that,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  it  became  the  fashion 
to  keep  apes  as  pets,  and  every  reader  of  Vasari 
will  remember  the  frequent  mention  of  these  ani- 
mals as  pets  and  favourites  of  the  artists.  Thus  only 
can  I  account  for  the  introduction  of  the  ape,  par- 
ticularly in  the  Ferrarese  pictures.  Bassano's  dog, 
^aroccio's  cat,  are  often  introduced.  In  a  famous 
picture  by  Titian,  "  La  Vierge  au  Lapin,"  we  have 
the  rabbit  (Louvre.)  The  introduction  of  these 
and  other  animals  marks  the  decline  of  religioui 
art. 

Certain  women  of  the  Old  Testament  are  re- 
garded as  especial  types  of  the  Virgin. 

Eve.     Mary  is  regarded  as  the  second  Eve,  be* 

*  It  was  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Bc^n. 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

cause,  through  her,  came  the  promised  Redemption^ 
She  bruised  the  head  of  the  Serpent  The  Tree 
of  Life,  the  Fall,  or  Eve  holding  the  Apple,  are 
constantly  introduced  allusively  in  the  Madonna 
pictures,  as  ornaments  of  her  throne,  or  on  the  pre- 
aella  of  an  altar-piece  representing  the  Annuncia- 
tion, the  Nativity,  or  the  Coronation. 

Rachel  figures  as  the  ideal  of  contemplative 
life. 

Ruth,  as  the  ancestress  of  David. 

Abishag,  as  "the  Virgin  who  was  brought  to 
the  King."     (1  Kings  i.  1.) 

Bathsheba,  because  she  sat  upon  a  throne  on 
the  right  hand  of  her  Son. 

Judith  and  Esther,  as  having  redeemed  their 

Ceople,  and  brought  deliverance  to  Israel.  It  is 
ecause  of  their  typical  character,  as  emblems  of 
the  Virgin,  that  these  Jewish  heroines  so  often  fig-, 
nre  in  the  religious  pictures.* 

In  his  "  Paradiso  "  (c.  xxxii.),  Dante  represents 
Eve,  Rachel,  Sara,  Ruth,  Judith,  as  seated  at  the 
feet  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  beneath  her  throne  in 
heaven;  and  next  to  Rachel,  by  a  refinement  of 
spiritual  and  poetical  gallantry,  he  has  placed  his 
Beatrice. 

In  the  beautiful  frescoes  of  the  church  of  St. 
Apollinaris  at  Remagen,  these  Hebrew  women 
stand  together  in  a  group  below  the  throne  of  the 
Virgin. 

Of  the  Prophets  and  the  Sibyls  who  attend  on 
Christ  in  his  character  of  the  Messiah  or  Redeemer, 
I  shall  have  much  to  say,  when  describing  the  ar- 
tistic treatment  of  the  history  and  character  of  Our 
Lord.  Those  of  the  prophets  who  are  supposed  to 
refer  more  particularly  to  the  Incarnation,  pi*op- 
erly  attend  on  the  Virgin  and  Child ;  but  in  the 
iLncient  altar-pieces,  they  are  not  placed  within  the 

*  The  artistic  treatment  of  these  characters  as  types  of  tbt 
¥irgia,  will  be  found  in  the  four'h  series  of  "  Legendary  Art." 


INTBODUCTIOX.  61 

•ame  frame,  nor  are  they  grouped  immediately 
round  her  throne,  but  form  the  outer  accessories,  of 
are  treated  separately  as  symbolical 

First,  Moses,  because  he  beheld  the  burning 
bush,  "  which  burned  and  was  not  consumed."  He 
is  generally  In  the  act  of  removing  his  sandals. 

Aaron,  because  his  rod  blossomed  miraculously. 

Gideon,  on  whose  fleece  descended  the  dew  of 
heaven,  while  all  was  dry  around. 

Daniel,  who  beheld  the  stone  which  was  cut 
out  without  hands,  and  became  a  great  mountain, 
filling  the  earth,     (ch.  ii.  45.) 

David,  as  prophet  and  ancestor.  "  Listen,  O 
daughter,  and  incline  thine  ear." 

Isaiah.  "Behold  a  virgin  shall  conceive  and 
bear  a  son." 

Ezekiel.    "  This  gate  shall  be  shut."  (ch.  xliv. 

2.) 

Certain  of  these  personages,  Moses,  Aaron,  Gid- 
eon, Daniel,  Ezekiel,  are  not  merely  accessories 
and  attendant  figures,  but  in  a  manner  attributes, 
as  expressing  the  character  of  the  Virgin.  Thus 
in  many  instances,  we  find  the  prophetical  person- 
ages altogether  omitted,  and  we  have  simply  the 
attribute  figuring  the  prophecy  itself,  the  burning 
bush,  the  rod,  the  dewy  fleece,  &c. 

The  Sibyls  are  sometimes  introduced  alternately 
wiih  the  Prophets.  In  general,  if  there  be  only 
two,  they  are  the  Tiburtina,  who  showed  the  vision 
to  Augustus,  and  the  Cumean  Sibyl  who  foretold 
the  birth  of  our  Saviour.,  The  Sibyls  were  much 
the  fashion  in  the  classic  times  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury; Michael  Angelo  and  Raphael  have  left  ua 
consummate  examples. 

But  I  must  repeat  that  the  full  consideration  of 
the  Prophets  and  Sibyls  as  accessories  belongs  tc 
another  department  of  sacred  art,  and  they  will 
Itnd  their  place  there. 

The  Evanscehsts  frequently,  and  sometimes  one 


S2  INTRODUCTIOir. 

or  more  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,  appear  as  accesso 
ries  which  assist  the  theological  conception.  When 
other  figures  are  introduced,  they  are  generally 
either  the  protecting  saints  of  the  country  or  locality, 
or  the  saints  of  the  Religious  Order  to  whom  the 
edifice  belongs  ;  or,  where  the  picture  or  window  is 
an  ex-votOy  we  find  the  patron  saints  of  the  confra- 
ternity, or  of  the  donor  or  votary  who  has  dedi- 
cated it. 

Angels  seated  at  the  feet  of  the  Madonna  and 
playing  on  musical  instruments,  are  most  lovely  and 
appropriate  accessories,  for  the  choral  angels  are 
always  around  her  in  heaven,  and  on  earth  she  i? 
the  especial  patroness  of  music  and  minstrelsy.* 
Her  delegate  Ceciha  patronized  sacred  music ;  but 
all  music  and  musicians,  all  minstrels,  and  all  who 
plied  the  "gaye  science,"  were  under  the  protec- 
tion of  Mary.  When  the  angels  are  singing  from 
their  music  books,  and  others  are  accompanying 
them  with  lutes  and  viols,  the  song  is  not  always 
supposed  to  be  the  same.  In  a  Nativity  they  sing 
the  "  Gloria  in  excelsis  Deo ;"  in  a  Coronation,  the 
"  Regina  Cceli ; "  in  an  enthroned  Madonna  with 
votaries,  the  "  Salve  Regina,  Mater  Misericor* 
diae  !  *'  in  a  pastoral  Madonna  and  Child  it  may  be 
the  "  Alma  Mater  Redemptoris." 

In  all  the  most  ancient  devotional  efligies  (those 
in  the  catacombs  and  the  old  mosaics),  the  Virgin 
appears  as  a  majestic  woman  of  mature  age.  In 
those  subjects  taken  from  her  history  which  precede 
<ier  return  from  Egypt,  and  in  the  Holy  Families, 
«he  should  appear  as  a  young  maiden  from  fifteen 
o  seventeen  years  old. 

In  the  subjects  taken  from  her  history  which  foi- 
fow  the  baptism  of  our  Lord,  she  should  appear  aa 
a  matron  between  forty  and  fifly,  but  still  of  9 

•  The  picture  by  Lo  Spagna,  lately  addd  to  our  Nationa]  Gal 
0ry  is  a  btrautiful  example. 


1XTR01>UCTI0N.  65 

sweet  and  gracious  aspect.  When  Michael  Angelo 
was  reproached  with  representing  his  Mater  Dolo- 
rosa much  too  young,  he  replied  that  the  perfect 
virtue  and  serenity  of  the  character  of  Mary  would 
have  preserved  her  beauty  and  youthful  appear- 
ance long  beyond  the  usual  period.* 

Because  some  of  the  Greek  pictures  and  carved 
images  had  become  black  through  extreme  age,  it 
was  argued  by  certain  devout  writers,  that  the  Vir- 
gin herself  must  have  been  of  a  very  dark  com- 
plexion ;  and  in  favour  of  this  idea  they  quoted  this 
text  from  the  Canticles,  "  I  am  black,  but  comely, 
O  ye  daughters  of  Jerusalem."  But  others  say  that 
her  complexion  had  become  black  only  during  her 
sojourn  in  Egypt.  At  all  events,  though  the  black- 
ness of  these  antique  images  was  suppose4  to  en- 
hance their  sanctity,  it  has  never  been  imitated  in 
the  fine  arts,  and  it  is  quite  contrary  to  the  de- 
scription of  Nicephorus,  which  is  the  most  ancient 
authority,  and  that  which  is  followed  in  the  Greek 
school. 

The  proper  dress  of  the  Virgin  is  a  close  red 
tunic,  with  long  sleeves  ;  f  and  over  this  a  blue 
robe  or  mantle.  In  the  early  pictures,  the  colours 
are  pale  and  delicate.  Her  head  ought  to  be  veiled. 
The  fathers  of  the  primeval  Church,  particularly 
TertuUian,  attach  great  importance  to  the  decent 
veil  worn  by  Christian  maidens ;  and  in  all  the 
early  pictures  the  Virgin  is  veiled.  The  enthroned 
Virgin,  unveiled,  with  long  tresses  falling  down  on 
tither  side,  was  an  innovation  introduced  about  the 
end  of  the  fifteenth  century ;  commencing,  I  think, 
with  the  Milanese,  and  thence  adopted  in  the  Ge]> 

*  The  group  in  St.  Peter's,  Rome. 

t  In  a  famous  Piet&  by  Raphael,  engraved  by  Maro  Antonio, 
the  Virgin,  standing  by  the  dead  form  Df  her  Son,  has  the  right 
Mm  apparently  bare;  in  the  repetition  of  the  subject  it  is 
clothed  with  a  full  sleeve,  the  impropriety  being  corrected.  The 
Irst  ia,  however,  the  most  perfitjct  and  most  precious  as  a  work 
tf  art.  -  Bartsch,  xiv.  34,  35. 


S4  INTRODUCTION. 

flaan  schools  and  those  of  Northern  Italy.  Th€ 
German  Madonnas  of  Albert  Durer's  time  have 
often  magnificent  and  luxuriant  hair,  curling  in 
ringlets,  or  descending  to  the  waist  in  rich  waves, 
and  always  fair.  Dark-haired  Madonnas  appeal 
first  in  the  Spanish  and  later  ItaUan  schools. 

In  the  historical  pictures,  her  dress  is  very  sim- 
ple ;  but  in  tho^  devotional  figures  whicn  represent 
her  as  queen  of  heaven,  she  wears  a  splendid 
crown,  sometimes  of  jewels  interwoven  with  liliea 
and  roses.  The  crown  is  often  the  sovereign  crowa 
of  the  country  in  which  the  picture  is  placed :  thus, 
in  the  Papal  States,  she  often  wears  the  triple 
tiara  ;  in  Austria,  the  imperial  diadem.  Her  blue 
tunic  is  richly  embroidered  with  gold  and  gems,  or 
lined  with  ermine,  or  stuff  of  various  colours,  in  ac- 
cordance with  a  text  of  Scripture  :  "  The  King's 
daughter  is  all  glorious  within ;  her  clothing  is  of 
wrought  gold.  She  shall  be  brought  unto  the  King 
in  a  vesture  of  needlework."  (Ps.  xlv.  13.)  In 
the  Immaculate  Conception,  and  in  the  Assump- 
tion, her  tunic  should  be  plain  white,  or  white 
spangled  with  golden  stars.  In  the  subjects  relat- 
ing to  the  Passion,  and  after  the  Crucifixion,  the 
dress  of  the  Virgin  should  be  violet  or  gray. 
These  proprieties,  however,  are  not  always  attended 
to. 

In  the  early  pictures  which  represent  her  as  nurs- 
ing the  divine  Infant  (the  subject  called  the  Ver- 
cine  Lattante),  the  utmost  care  is  taken  to  veil  the 
bust  as  much  as  possible.  In  the  Spanish  school 
the  most  vigilant  censorship  was  exercised  over  all 
sacred  pictures,  and,  with  regard  to  the  figures  of 
ihe  Virgin,  the  utmost  decorum  was  required. 
"  What,"  says  Pacheco,  ''  can  be  more  foreign  to  the 
respect  which  we  owe  to  our  Lady  the  Virgin,  than 
to  paint  her  sitting  down  with  one  of  her  knee« 
placed  over  the  other,  and  often  with  her  sacred 
feet  uncovered  and  naked  ?     Let  thanks  be  give» 


INTRODUCTION.  65 

to  the  Holy  Inquisition,  which  commands  that  this 
liberty  should  be  corrected."  For  this  reason,  per- 
haps, we  seldom  see  the  feet  of  the  Virgin  in  Span- 
ish pictures.*  Carducho  speaks  more  particularly 
on  the  impropriety  of  painting  the  Virgin  unshod, 
"  since  it  is  manifest  that  our  Lady  was  in  the 
habit  of  wearing  shoes,  as  is  proved  by  the  much 
venerated  relic  of  one  of  them  from  her  divine  feel 
at  Burgos." 

The  Child  in  her  arms  is  always,  in  the  Greek 
and  early  pictures,  clothed  in  a  little  tunic,  gener- 
ally white.  In  the  fifteenth  century  he  first  ap- 
pears partly,  and  then  wholly,  und raped.  Joseph, 
as  the  earthly  sposo^  wears  the  saffron-coloured  man- 
tle over  a  gray  tunic.  In  the  later  schools  of  art 
these  significant  colours  are  often  varied,  and  some- 
times wholly  dispensed  with. 


in.   DEVOTIONAL   AND   HISTORICAL  REPRESEN- 
TATIONS. 

In  this  volume,  as  in  the  former  ones,  I  have  ad- 
hered to  the  distinction  between  the  devotional  and 
the  historical  representations. 

I  class  as  devotional,  all  those  which  express  a 
dogma  merely ;  all  the  enthroned  Madonnas,  alone 
or  surrounded  by  significant  accessories  or  attend- 
ant saints ;  all  the  Mystical  Coronations  and  Im- 
maculate Conceptions ;  all  the  Holy  Families  with 
saints,  and  those  completely  ideal  and  votive 
groups,  in  which  the  appeal  is  made  to  the  faith 

*  Or  in  any  of  the  old  pictures  till  the  seventeenth  century, 
•'  Tandis  que  Dieu  est  toujours  montre  pieds  nus,  lui  qui  est  de 
Kcendu  k  terre  et  a  pris  notre  humanity,  Marie  au  contraire  est 
constamment  representee  les  pieds  perdus  dans  les  plis  trainants, 
dombreux  et  legers  de  sa  robe  virginale  ;  elle,  qui  est  elevee  au 
tessus  de  la  terre  et  rapprochee  de  Dieu  par  sa  puret6.  Dieu 
montre  par  ses  pieds  nus  qu'il  a  pris  le  corps  de  I'homme; 
filarie  fait  comprendre  en  les  cachant  qu'elle  participe  de  la 
tpiritualite  de  Dieu." 


S6  INTRODUCTION. 

and  piety  of  the  observer.  I  shall  give  the  char, 
acteristic  details,  in  particular  instances,  further  on. 

The  altar-pieces  in  a  Roman  Catholic  church  are 
always  either  strictly  devotional  subjects,  or,  it 
may  be,  historical  subjects  (such  as  the  Nativity) 
treated  in  a  devotional  sense.  They  are  sometimes  in 
several  pieces  or  compartments.  A  Diptych  is  an 
altar-piece  composed  of  two  divisions  or  leaveSi 
which  are  united  by  hinges,  and  close  like  a  book. 
Portable  altar-pieces  of  a  small  size  are  generally 
in  this  form ;  and  among  the  most  valuable  and 
curious  remains  of  early  religious  art  are  the  Greek 
and  Byzantine  Diptychs,  sometimes  painted,  some- 
times carved  in  ivory.  *  A  Triptych  is  an  altar- 
piece  in  three  parts ;  the  two  outer  iivisions  or 
wings  often  closing  as  shutters  over  the  central 
compartment. 

On  the  outside  of  the  shutters  or  doors  the  An- 
nunciation was  generally  painted,  as  the  mystery 
which  opened  the  gates  of  salvation  ;  occasionally, 
also,  the  portraits  of  the  votaries  or  donors. 

Complete  examples  of  devotional  representation 
occur  in  the  complex  and  elaborate  altar-piecea 
and  windows  of  stained  glass,  which  often  com- 
prehend a  very  significant  scheme  of  theology.f 
I  give  here  plans  of  two  of  these  old  altar-pieces, 
which  will  assist  the  reader  in  elucidating  the 
meaning  of  others. 

The  first  is  the  altar-piece  in  the  Rinuccini 
Chapel  in  the  church  of  the  Santa  Croco  of 
Florence.  It  is  necessary  to  premise  that  the 
ehapel  was  founded  in  honour  of  the  Virgin  and 

*  Among  the  "  Casts  from  Ancient  Ivory  Carvings,"  published 
y  the  Arundel  Society,  will  be  found  some  interesting  and  illus« 
trative  examples,  particularly  Clsiss  III.  Biptych  6,  Class  VII 
Diptych  e  and  Triptych  /,  Class  IX.  Triptych  k. 

t  Still  more  important  examples  occur  in  the  porches  and  ex 
lerior  decoration  of  the  old  cathedrals,  French  and  English 
Irhich  have  escaped  mutilation.  These  will  be  found  explained 
%t  lenj(th  in  the  Fourth  Series  of  Sacred  and  Legendary  Art. 


INTRODUCTION. 


64 


Maiy  Magdalene ;  while  the  church  is  dedicated 
to  the  Holy  Cross,  and  belongs  to  the  Franciscans. 

The  compartments  are  separated  by  wood-work 
most  richly  carved  and  gilt  in  the  Gothic  style, 
with  twisted  columns,  pinnacles,  and  scrolls.  The 
subjects  are  thus  distributed. 

A.  The  Virgin  and  Child  enthroned.  She  has 
the  sun  on  her  breast,  the  moon  under  her  feet,  the 
twelve  stars  over  her  head,  and  is  attended  by  an- 
gels bearing  the  attributes  of  the  cardinal  virtues. 
B.  St.  John  the  Baptist.  C.  St.  Francis.  D.  St. 
John  Evangelist.  E.  Mary  Magdalene.  1.  The 
Crucifixion,  with  the  Virgin  and  St.  John.  2, 
3,  4,  5.  The  four  Evangelists  with  their  books : 
half  length.  6,  7.  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul: 
half^  length.  8,  9,  10,  11.  St.  Thomas,  St. 
Philip,  St.  James,  and  St.  Andrew :  half  length. 
PP.  The  Predella.  12.  The  Nativity  and  Adora- 
ton  of  Magi.  13.  St.  Francis  receives  the  Stig 
mata.  14.  Baptism  of  Christ.  15.  The  Vision  of 
St  John  in  Patmos.  16.  Mary  Magdalene  borne 
up  by  angels.  Between  the  altar-piece  and  the 
predella  runs  the  inscription  in  Gothic  letters,  AvB 
Delicissimis  Virgo  Maria,  succurre  nobis 

^ATER  Pi  A.  MCCCLXXVIII. 

The  second  example  is  sketched  from  an  altai> 


S8 


rnXKODUCTION. 


piece  painted  for  the  suppressed  convent  of  Santa 
Uhiara,  at  Venice.     It  is  six  feet  high,  and  eigli^< 


feet  wide,  and  the  ornamental  carving  in  which  the 
subjects  are  enclosed  particularly  splendid  and  elab- 
orate. 

A.  The  Coronation  of  the  Virgin,  treated  as  a 
religious  mystery,  with  choral  angels.  B.  The  Na- 
tivity of  our  Lord.  C.  The  Baptism.  D.  The  Last 
Supper.  E.  The  Betrayal  of  Christ.  F.  The  Pro- 
cession to  Calvary,  in  which  the  Virgin  is  rudely 
pushed  aside  by  the  soldiers.  G.  The  Crucifixion, 
as  an  event :  John  sustains  the  Virgin  at  the  foot 
of  the  cross.  H.  The  Resurrection  and  the  Noli 
me  tangere,  I.  Ascension.  1.  Half-figure  of  Christ, 
with  the  hand  extended  in  benediction :  in  the  other 
hand  the  Gospel.  2.  David.  3.  Isaiah.  4,  5,  6, 
7.  The  four  Evangelists  standing.  8,  9,  11,  12. 
Scenes  from  the  Life  of  St.  Francis  and  St.  Clara 
10.  The  Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  13  The  Last 
Judgment. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  so  many  of  these  altai> 
pieces  have  been  broken  up,  and  the  detatched 
parts  sold  as  separate  pictures  ;  so  that  we  may  find 
>ne  compartment  of  an  altar  in  a  church  at  Kome, 
and  another  hanging  in  a  drawing-room  in  London 
vhe  upper  part  at  Ghent,  th6  lower  half  at  Paris 


INTRODUCTION  69 

#ne  wing  At  Berlin,  another  at  Florence.  But 
where  they  exist  as  a  whole,  how  solemn,  signifi- 
cant, and  instructive  the  arrangement!  It  may 
be  read  as  we  read  a  poem.  Compare  these  with 
the  groups  round  the  enthroned  Virgin  in  the  later 
altar-pieces,  where  the  saints  elbow  each  other  in 
attitudes,  where  mortal  men  sit  with  unseemly 
familiarity  close  to  personages  recognized  as  di- 
vine. As  I  have  remarked  further  on,  it  is  one  of 
the  most  interesting  speculations  connected  with  the 
study  of  art,  to  trace  this  decline  from  reverence  to 
irreverence,  from  the  most  rigid  formula  to  the  most 
fantastic  caprice.  The  gradual  disappearance  of 
the  personages  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  increas- 
ing importance  given  to  the  family  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  the  multiplication  of  legendary  subjects,  and 
all  the  variety  of  adventitious,  unmeaning,  or  mere- 
ly ornamental  accessories,  strike  us  just  in  propor- 
tion as  a  learned  theology  replaced  the  unreflect- 
ing, undoubting  piety  of  an  earlier  age. 

The  historical  subjects  comprise  the  events  from 
the  Life  of  the  Virgin,  when  treated  in  a  dramatic 
form ;  and  all  those  groups  which  exhibit  her  in  her 
merely  domestic  relations,  occupied  by  cares  for 
her  divine  Child,  and  surrounded  by  her  parents 
and  kindred,  subjects  which  assume  a  pastoral  and 
poetical  rather  than  an  historical  form. 

All  •these  may  be  divided  into  Scriptural  and 
Legendary  representations.  The  Scriptural  scenes 
in  which  the  Virgin  Mary  is  a  chief  or  important 
personage,  are  the  Annunciation,  the  Visitation,  the 
Nativity,  the  Purification,  the  Adoration  of  the  Magi, 
the  Flight  into  Egypt,  the  Marriage  at  Cana,  the 
Procession  to  Calvary,  the  Crucifixion  (as  related  by 
St.  John),  and  the  Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The 
Traditional  and  Legendary  scenes  are  those  taken 
from  the  apocryphal  Scriptures,  some  of  which  have 
existed  from  the  third  century.    The  Legend  of  Joa- 


'0  INTJBODUCIION. 

chim  and  Anna,  the  parents  of  the  Virgin,  with  the 
account  of  her  early  life,  and  her  Marriage  with  Jo 
Beph,  down  to  the  Massacre  of  the  Innocents,  are 
taken  from  the  Gospel  of  Mary  and  the  Protevan* 
gelion.  The  scenes  of  the  Flight  into  Egypt,  th3 
Repose  on  the  Journey,  and  the  Sojourn  of  the 
Holy  Family  at  Hieropolis  or  Matarea,  are  taken 
from  the  Gospel  of  Infancy.  The  various  scenes  at- 
tending the  Death  and  Assumption  of  the  Virgin  are 
derived  from  a  Greek  legendary  poem,  once  attiib- 
uted  to  St.  John  the  EvangeUst,  but  the  work,  as  it 
is  supposed,  of  a  certain  Greek,  named  Meliton,  who 
lived  in  the  ninth  century,  and  who  has  merely 
dressed  up  in  a  more  fanciful  form  ancient  tradi- 
tions of  the  Church.  Many  of  these  historical 
scenes  have  been  treated  in  a  devotional  style,  ex- 
pressing not  the  action,  but  the  event,  taken  in  the 
light  of  a  religious  mystery ;  a  distinction  which  1 
have  fully  explained  in  the  following  pages,  where 
I  have  given  in  detail  the  legends  on  which  these 
scenes  are  founded,  and  the  religious  significance 
eonveyed  by  the  treatment. 

A  complete  series  of  the  History  of  the  Virgin 
begins  with  the  rejection  of  her  father  Joachim 
fix)m  the  temple,  and  ends  with  the  assumption  and 
coronation,  including  most  of  the  events  in  the  His- 
tory of  our  Lord  (as  for  example,  the  series  painted 
by  Giotto,  in  the  chapel  of  the  Arena,  at  Padua) ; 
but  there  are  many  instances  in  which  certain  im- 
portant events  relating  to  the  Virgin  only,  as  the 
principal  person,  are  treated  as  a  devotional  series ; 
and  such  are  generally  found  in  the  chapels  and  or- 
atories especially  dedicated  to  her.  A  beautiful  in- 
stance is  that  of  the  Death  of  the  Virgin,  treated  in 
a  succession  of  scenes,  as  an  event  apart,  and 
painted  by  Taddeo  Bartolo,  in  the  Chapel  of  the 
^alazao  Publico,  at  Siena.  This  small  chapel  was 
dedicated  to  the  Virgin  soon  after  the  terrible 
plague  of  1348  had  ceased,  as  it  was  beUeved,  bi 


INTKODUCTION.  7| 

her  intercession ;  so  that  this  municipal  chapel 
was  dt  once  an  expression  of  thanksgiving,  and 
a  memorial  of  death,  of  suffering,  of  bereavement, 
and  of  hope  in  the  resurrection.  The  frescoes 
cover  one  wall  of  the  chapel,  and  are  arranged 
in  four  scenes. 

1.  Mary  is  reclining  in  her  last  sickness,  and 
around  her  are  the  Apostles,  who,  according  to  the 
beautiful  legend,  were  miraculously  assembled  to 
witness  her  departure.  To  express  this,  one  of 
them  is  floating  in  as  if  borne  on  the  air.  St.  John 
kneels  at  her  feet,  and  she  takes,  with  an  expres- 
sion exquisitely  tender  and  maternal,  his  two  hands 
in  hers.  This  action  is  pecuHar  to  the  Siena 
school.* 

2.  She  lies  extended  on  her  couch,  surrounded 
by  the  weeping  Apostles,  and  Christ  behind  re- 
ceives the  parting  soul,  —  the  usual  representation, 
but  treated  with  the  utmost  sentiment. 

3.  She  is  borne  to  the  grave  by  the  Apostles  ;  in 
the  background,  the  walls  of  the  city  of  Jerusalem. 
Here  the  Greek  legend  of  St.  Michael  protecting 
her  remains  from  the  sacrilegious  Jew  is  omitted, 
and  a  peculiar  sentiment  of  solemnity  pervades  the 
whole  scene. 

4.  The  resurrection  of  the  Virgin,  when  she  rises 


*  On  each  side  of  the  principal  door  of  the  Cathedral  at  Siena, 
which  is  dedicated  to  "  Beata  Virgine  Assunta,"  and  just  within 
the  entrance,  is  a  magnificent  pilaster,  of  white  marble,  complete- 
ly covered  from  the  base  to  the  capital  with  the  most  luxuriant 
carving,  arabesques,  foliage,  &c.,.in  an  admirable  and  finished 
Ityle.  On  the  bases  of  these  two  pilasters  are  subjects  from  the 
life  of  the  Virgin,  three  on  each  side,  and  arranged,  each  subject 
on  one  side  having  its  pendant  on  the  other. 

1.  The  meeting  of  Joachim  and  Anna.  2.  The  Nativity  of 
Mary.  3.  Her  sickness  and  last  farewell  to  the  Apostles;  bend- 
ing towards  St.  John,  she  takes  his  hands  in  hers  with  the  same 
tender  expression  as  in  the  fresco  by  Taddeo  Bartola.  4.  She  lief 
dead  on  her  couch.    5.  The  Assumption.    6.  The  Coronation. 

The  figures  are  about  a  foot  in  neight,  delicately  carved,  full  o 
Chat  sentiment  which  is  especially  Sienese,  and  treated  with 
jruly  sculptura  simplicity. 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

from  the  tomb  sustained  by  hovering  angels,  and  is 
received  by  Christ. 

When  I  first  saw  these  beautiful  frescoes,  in  1847, 
whey  were  in  a  very  ruined  state ;  they  have  since 
been  restored  in  a  very  good  style,  and  with  a  rev- 
erent attention  to  the  details  and  expression. 

In  general,  however,  the  cycle  commences  either 
with  the  legend  of  Joachim  and  Anna,  or  with  the 
Nativity  of  the  Virgin,  and  ends  with  the  assump- 
tion and  coronation.  A  most  interesting  early  ex- 
ample is  the  series  painted  in  fresco  by  Taddeo 
Gaddi,  in  the  Baroncelli  Chapel  at  Florence.  The 
subjects  are  arranged  on  two  walls.  The  first 
on  the  right  hand,  and  the  second,  opposite  to  us 
as  we  enter. 

1.  Joachim  is  rejected  from  the  Temple. 

2.  He  is  consoled  by  the  Angel. 

3.  The  meeting  of  Joachim  and  Anna. 

4.  The  Birth  of  the  Virgin. 

5.  The  Presentation  of  the  Virgin.  She  is  here 
a  child  of  about  five  years  old ;  and  having  ascend- 
ed five  steps  (of  the  fifteen)  she  turns  as  if  to  bid 
farewell  to  her  parents  and  companions,  who  stand 
below;  while  on  the  summit  the  High  Priest,  Anna 
the  prophetess,  and  the  maidens  of  the  Temple 
come  forward  to  receive  her. 

6.  The  Marriage  to  Joseph,  and  the  rage  and 
disappointment  of  the  other  suitors. 

The  second  wall  is  divided  by  a  large  window  of 
the  richest  stained  glass,  on  each  side  of  which  the 
BUDjects  are  arranged. 

7.  The  Annunciation.  This  is  peculiar.  Mary 
not  throned  or  standing,  but  seated  on  the  ground, 
with  her  hands  clasped,  and  an  expression  beauti- 
ful for  devotion  and  humility,  looks  upwards  to  tbf 
descending  angel. 

'8.  The  Meeting  of  Mary  and  Elizabeth. 
9.  The  Annunciation  to  the  Shepherds. 
10.  The  Nativity. 


INTRODUCTION.  71 

11.  The  WiMe  Men  behold  the  Star  in  the  Form 
•fa  Child. 

12.  They  approach  to  Worship.  Under  the 
window  is  the  altar,  no  longer  used  as  such;  and 
behind  it  a  small  but  beautiful  triptych  of  the  Coro- 
nation of  the  Virgin,  by  Giotto,  containing  at  least 
a  hundred  heads  oi  saints,  angels,  &c. ;  and  on  the 
wall  opposite  is  the  large  fresco  of  the  Assump- 
tion, by  Mainardi,  in  which  St.  Thomas  receives 
the  girdle,  the  other  Apostles  being  omitted.  This 
is  of  much  later  date,  being  painted  about  1495. 

The  series  of  five  subjects  in  the  Rinuccini  Chap- 
el (in  the  sacristy  of  the  same  church)  has  been 
generally  attributed  to  Taddeo  Gaddi,  but  I  agree 
with  those  who  gave  it  to  a  different  painter  of 
the  same  period. 

The  subjects  are  thus  arranged:  —  1.  The  Re- 
jection of  Joachim,  which  fills  the  whole  arch  at 
the  top,  and  is  rather  peculiarly  treated.  On  the 
right  of  the  altar  advances  a  company  of  grave- 
looking  Elders,  each  with  his  offering.  On  the  left, 
a  procession  of  the  matrons  and  widows  "  who  had 
been  fruitful  in  Israel,"  each  with  her  lamb.  In 
the  centre,  Joachim,  with  his  lamb  in  his  arms  and 
an  affrighted  look,  is  hurrying  down  the  steps.  2. 
The  Lamentation  of  Joachim  on  the  Mountain,  and 
the  Meeting  of  Joachim  and  Anna.  3.  The  Birth 
of  the  Virgin.  4.  The  Presentation  in  the  Temple. 
5.  The  Sposalizio  of  the  Virgin,  with  which  the 
series  concludes ;  every  event  referring  to  her  di- 
vine Son,  even  the  Annunciation,  being  omitted. 
On  comparing  these  frescoes  with  those  in  the  neigh- 
bouring chapel  of  the  Baroncelli,  the  difference  in 
feeling  will  be  immediately  felt ;  but  they  are  very 
naive  and  elegant. 

About  a  hundred  ^vears  later  than  these  two  ex- 
amples we  have  the  celebrated  series  painted  by 
Ghirlandajo,  in  the  choir  of  S.  Maria  Novella  at 
Florence.    T'jiere  are  three  walls.     On  the  princi- 


U  INTRODUCTION. 

pal  wall,  facing  us  as  we  enter,  is  the  window ;  and 
around  it  the  Annunciation  (as  a  mystery),  then 
the  principal  saints  of  the  Order  to  whom  the 
church  belongs,  —  St.  Dominic  and  St.  Peter  Mar- 
tyr, and  the  protecting  saints  of  Florence. 

On  the  left  hand  (i.  e.  the  right  as  we  face  the 
high  altar)  is  the  History  of  the  Virgin ;  on  the  op- 
posite side,  the  History  of  St.  John  the  Baptifet 
The  various  cycles  relating  to  St.  John  as  patron 
of  Florence  will  be  fully  treated  in  the  last  volume 
of  Legendary  Art ;  at  present  I  shall  confine  myself 
to  the  beautiful  set  of  subjects  which  relate  the  his- 
tory of  the  Virgin,  and  which  the  engravings  of 
Lasinio  (see  the  "Ancient  Florentine  Masters ") 
have  rendered  well  known  to  the  lovers  of  art. 
They  cover  the  whole  wall,  and  are  thus  arranged, 
beginning  from  the  lowest  on  the  left  hand. 

1.  Joachim  is  driven  from  the  Temple. 

2.  The  Birth  of  the  Virgin. 

3.  The  Presentation  of  the  Virgin  in  the  Temple. 

4.  The  Marriage  of  Joseph  and  Mary. 

5.  The  Adoration  of  the  Magi  (this  is  very  much 
ruined). 

6.  The  Massacre  of  the  Innocents.  (This  also 
is  much  ruined.)  Vasari  says  it  was  the  finest  of 
all.  It  is  very  unusual  to  make  this  terrible  and 
pathetic  scene  part  of  the  life  of  the  Virgin. 

7.  In  the  highest  and  largest  compartment,  the 
Death  and  Assumption  of  the  Virgin. 

Nearly  contemporary  with  this  fine  series  is  that 
by  Pinturicchio  in  the  Church  of  S.  Maria  del  Po- 
polo,  at  Rome  (in  the  third  chapel  on  the  right). 
It  is  comprised  in  five  lunettes  round  the  ceiling, 
beginning  with  the  Birth  of  the  Virgin,  and  is  re- 
markable for  its  elegance. 

About  forty  years  after  this  series  was  completed 
fche  people  of  Siena,  who  had  always  been  remark 
able  for  their  devotion  to  the  Virgin,  dedicated  tc 
^er  honour  the  beautiful  little  chapel  called  the 


INTRODUCTION.  75 

Oratory  of  San  Bernardino  (v.  Legends  of  the 
Monastic  Orders),  near  the  church  of  San  Fran- 
cesco, and  belonging  to  the  same  Order,  the  Fran- 
ciscans. This  chapel  is  an  exact  parallelogram  and 
the  frescoes  which  cover  the  four  walls  are  thus  ar- 
ranged above  the  wainscot,  which  rises  about  eight 
feet  from  the  ground. 

1.  Opposite  the  door  as  we  enter,  the  Birth  of 
the  Virgin.  The  usual  visitor  to  St.  Anna  is  here 
a  grand  female  figure,  in  voluminous  drapery. 
The  delight  and  exultation  of  those  who  minister 
to  the  new-born  infant  are  expressed  with  the  most 
graceful  naivete.  This  beautiful  composition  should 
be  compared  with  those  of  Ghirlandajo  and  Andrea 
del  Sarto  in  the  Annunziata  at  Florence;*  it 
yields  to  neither  as  a  conception  and  is  wholly  dif- 
ferent. It  is  the  work  of  a  Sienese  painter  little 
known  —  GIrolamo  del  Pacchio. 

2.  The  Presentation  in  the  Temple,  by  G.  A. 
Razzi.  The  principal  scene  isjplaced  in  the  back- 
ground, and  the  little  Madonna,  as  she  ascends  the 
steps,  is  received  by  the  High  Priest  and  Anna  the 
prophetess.  Her  father  and  mother  and  groups  of 
spectators  fill  the  foreground ;  here,  too,  is  a  very 
noble  female  figure  on  the  right;  but  the  whole 
composition  is  mannered,  and  wants  repose  and  re- 
ligious feeling. 

3.  The  Sposalizio,  by  Beccafuml.  The  ceremo- 
ny takes  place  after  the  manner  of  the  Jews,  out- 
■ide  the  Temple.     In  a  mannered,  artificial  style. 

4.  5.  On  one  side  of  the  altar,  the  Angel  Ga- 
briel floating  in  —  very  majestic  and  angelic  ;  on 
the  other  side  the  Virgin  Annunziata,  with  that  at- 
titude and  expression  so  characteristic  of  the  Siena 
School,  as  if  shrinking  from  the  apparition.     These 

*  This  series,  painted  by  Andrea  and  his  scholars  and  com- 
panions, Franciabigio  and  Pontormo,  is  very  remarkable  as  a 
work  of  art,  but  presents  nothing  new  in  regard  to  the  cholc* 
Uid  treatment  of  the  subjects. 


T6  INTRODUCTION. 

also  are  by  Girolamo  del  Pacchio,  and  extrcmelj 
fine. 

6.  The  enthroned  Virgin  and  Child,  by  Bec- 
eafumi.  The  Virgin  is  very  fine  and  majestic; 
around  her  throne  stand*  and  kneel  the  guardian 
saints  of  Siena  and  the  Franciscan  Order:  St. 
Francis,  St.  Antony  of  Padua,  St.  Bernardino, 
St.  Catherine  of  Siena,  St.  Ansano,  St.  John  B., 
St.  liOuis.  (St.  Catherine,  as  patroness  of  Siena, 
takes  here  the  place  usually  given  to  St.  Clara  in 
the  Franciscan  pictures.) 

7.  The  Visitation.  Very  fine  and  rather  pecu- 
liar ;  for  here  Elizabeth  bends  over  Mary  as  wel- 
coming her,  while  the  other  inclines  her  head  as 
accepting  hospitality.     By  Razzi. 

8.  The  Death  of  the  Virgin.  Fourteen  figures, 
among  which  are  four  females  lamenting,  and  St. 
John  bearing  the  palm.  The  attitude  and  expres- 
sion of  Mary,  composed  in  death,  are  very  fine; 
and  Christ,  instea^  of  standing,  as  usual,  by  the 
couch,  with  her  parting  soul  in  his  arms,  comes 
rushing  down  from  above  with  arms  outspread  to 
receive  it. 

9.  The  Assumption.  Mary,  attired  all  in  white, 
rises  majestically.  The  tomb  is  seen  beneath,  out 
of  which  grow  two  tall  lilies  amid  white  roses ;  the 
Apostles  surround  it,  and  St.  Thomas  receives  the 
girdle.  This  is  one  of  the  finest  works  of  Razzi, 
and  one  of  the  purest  in  point  of  sentiment. 

10.  The  Coronation,  covering  the  whole  wall 
which  faces  the  altar,  is  by  Razzi ;  it  is  very  pecu- 
liar and  characteristic.  The  Virgin,  all  in  white, 
and  extremely  fine,  bending  gracefully,  receives 
her  crown  ;  the  other  figures  have  that  vulgarity  of 
expression  which  belonged  to  the  artist,  and  is  often 
so  oddly  mingled  with  the  sentiment  and  grandeur 
of  his  school  and  time.  On  the  right  of  the  princi 
pal  group  stands  St.  John  B. ;  on  the  left,  Adanj 
ind  Eve ;  and  behind  the  Virgin,  her  mother,  St 


INTRODUCTION.  7T 

Anna,  which  is  quite   peculiar,  and  the  only  in- 
itance  I  can  remember. 

It  appears  therefore  that  the  Life  of  the  Virgin 
Mary,  whether  treated  as  a  devotional  or  historical 
Berie3,  forms  a  kind  of  pictured  drama  in  successive 
scenes ;  sometimes  comprising  only  six  or  eight  of 
the  principal  events  of  her  individual  life,  as  her 
birth,  dedication,  marriage,  death,  and  assumption  : 
gometimes  extending  to  forty  or  fifty  subjects,  and 
combining  her  history  with  that  of  her  divine  Son. 
I  may  now  direct  the  attention  of  the  reader  to  a 
few  other  instances  remarkable  for  their  beauty 
and  celebrity. 

Giotto,  1320.  In  the  chapel  at  Padua  styled  la 
Capella  dell '  Arena.  One  of  the  finest  and  most 
complete  examples  extant,  combining  the  Life  of 
the  Virgin  with  that  of  her  Son.  This  series  is  of 
the  highest  value,  a  number  of  scenes  and  situations 
Biiggested  by  the  Scriptures  being  here  either  ex- 
pressed for  the  first  time,  or  in  a  form  unknown  in 
the  Greek  school.* 

Angiolo  Gaddi,  1380.  The  series  in  the  cathe- 
dral at  Prato.  These  comprise  the  history  of  the 
Holy  Girdle. 

Andrea  Orcagna,  1373.  The  beautiful  series  of 
bas-reliefs  on  the  shrine  in  Or-San-Michele,  at 
Florence. 

!Nicol6  da  Modena,  1450.  Perhaps  the  earliest 
engraved  example:  very  remarkable  for  the  ele- 
gance of  the  motifs  and  the  imperfect  execution, 
engraving  on  copper  being  then  a  new  art. 

Albert  Durer.     The  beautiful  and  well-known 

*  Vide  Kugler's  Handbook,  p.  129.  He  observes,  that  "  th« 
Introduction  of  the  maid-servant  spinning,  in  the  story  of  St. 
Anna,  oversteps  the  hmits  of  the  higher  ecclesiastical  style." 
For  an  explanation  I  must  refer  to  ohe  story  as  I  ha-^'e  given  it  al 
p.  249.  See,  for  the  distribution  of  the  subjects  in  this  chapel, 
liOrd  Lindsay's  "  Christian  Art,"  vol.  ii.  A  set  of  the  subject! 
W  since  been  published  by  the  Arundel  Society. 


f8  INTRODUCTION. 

«et  of  twenty-fivo  wood-cuts,  published  in  1510.  A 
perfect  example  of  the  German  treatment. 

Bernardino  Luini,  1515.  A  series  of  frescoes  of 
the  highest  beauty,  painted  for  the  monastery  Delia 
Pace.  Unhappily  we  have  only  the  fragments 
which  are  preserved  in  the  Brera. 

The  series  of  bas-reliefs  on  the  outer  shrine  of 
the  Casa  di  Loretto,  by  Sansovino,  and  others  of 
the  greatest  sculptors  of  the  beginning  of  the  six- 
teenth century. 

The  series  of  bas-reliefs  round  the  choir  at  Milan : 
seventeen  subjects. 

We  often  find  the  Seven  Joys  and  the  Seven 
Sorrows  of  the  Virgin  treated  as  a  series. 

The  Seven  Joys  are,  the  Annunciation,  the  Visi- 
tation, the  Nativity,  the  Adoration  of  the  Magi,  the 
Presentation  in  the  Temple,  Christ  found  by  his 
Mother,  the  Assumption  and  Coronation. 

The  Seven  Sorrows  are,  the  Prophecy  of  Simeon, 
the  Flight  into  Egypt,  Christ  lost  by  his  Mother,  the 
Betrayal  of  Christ,  the  Crucifixion  (with  St.  John 
and  the  Virgin  only  present),  the  Deposition  from 
the  Cross,  the  Ascension  when  the  Virgin  is  left 
on  earth. 

The  Seven  Joys  and  Sorrows  are  frequently 
found  in  altar-pieces  and  religious  prints,  arranged 
in  separate  compartments,  round  the  Madonna  in 
the  centre.  Or  they  are  combined  in  various  groups 
into  one  large  composition,  as  in  a  famous  picture 
by  Hans  Hemling,  wonderful  for  the  poetry,  ex- 
pression, and  finished  execution.* 

Another  cycle  of  subjects  consists  of  the  fifteen 
Mysteries  of  the  Rosary. 

The  five  Joyful  Mysteries,  are  the  Annunciation, 

*  Altogether,  on  a  careful  consideration  of  this  picture,  I  do 
not  consider  the  title  by  which  it  is  generally  known  as  appro- 
priate.  It  contains  many  groups  which  would  not  enter  inti 
the  mystic  joys  or  sorrows ;  for  instance,  the  Massacre  of  the  In 
nocents,  Christ  at  Emmaus,  the  Noli  me  tangere,  and  ethers 


INTRODUCTION.  7S 

fhe  Visitation,  the  Nativity,  the  Purification,  and 
Chiist  found  in  the  Temple. 

The  five  Dolorous  or  Sorrowful  Mysteries  are^ 
our  Lord  in  the  Garden  of  Olives,  the  Flagellation, 
Christ  crowned  with  Thorns,  the  Procession  to  Cal- 
vary, the  Crucifixion. 

The  five  Glorious  Mysteries  are,  the  Resurreo 
don,  the  Ascension,  the  Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghos^ 
the  Assumption,  the  Coronation. 

A  series  of  subjects  thus  arranged  cannot  b# 
called  strictly  historical,  but  partakes  of  the  mys- 
tical and  devotional  character.  The  purpose  being 
to  excite  devout  meditation,  requires  a  particulai 
sentiment,  frequently  distinguished  from  the  merely 
dramatic  and  historical  trc  jtment  in  being  accom- 
panied by  saints,  votaries,  and  circumstances  purely 
ideal ;  as  where  the  Wise  Men  bring  their  offerings, 
while  St.  Luke  sits  in  a  corner  painting  the  portrait 
of  the  Virgin,  and  St.  Dominick  kneels  in  adora- 
tion of  the  Mystery  (Mabuse,  Munich  Gal.); — and 
in  a  hundred  other  examples. 


IV.   TITLES   OF    THE   VIRGIN   MARY. 

.  Of  the  various  titles  given  to  the  Virgin  Mary, 
and  thence  to  certain  effigies  and  pictures  of  her, 
some  appear  to  me  very  touching,  as  expressive  of 
the  wants,  the  aspirations,  the  infirmities  and  sor- 
rows, which  are  common  to  poor  suffering  human- 
ity, or  of  those  divine  attributes  from  which  they 
hoped  to  find  aid  and  consolation.  Thus  we 
have  — 

Santa  Maria  "  del  buon  Consilio."  Our  Lady  of 
good  Couns(^.l. 

S.  M.  "del  Soccorso."  Out  Lady  of  Succour. 
Our  Lady  of  the  Forsaken. 

S  M.  "  del  buon  Core."  Our  Lady  of  good 
Heart 


80  LNTRODUCTION. 

S.  M.  «  della  Grazia."     Our  Lady  of  Grace. 

S.  M.  "  di  Misericordia."     Our  Lady  of  Mercy. 

S.  M.  "  Auxilium  Afflictorum."  Help  of  the  Af* 
flicted. 

S.  M.  "  Refugium  Peccatorum."  Refuge  of  Sin- 
ners. 

S.  M.  "  del  Pianto,"  "  del  Dolore."  Our  Lady 
of  Lamentation,  or  Sorrow. 

S.  M.  "  Consolatrice,"  "  della  Consolazione,"  or 
**  del  Conforto."     Our  Lady  of  Consolation. 

S.  M.  "  della  Speranza."     Our  Lady  of  Hope. 

Under  these  and  similar  titles  she  is  invoked  by 
the  afflicted,  and  often  represented  with  her  ample 
robe  outspread  and  upheld  by  angels,  with  votaries 
and  suppliants  congregated  beneath  its  folds.  In 
Spain,  Nuestra  Senora  de  la  Merced  is  the  patron- 
ess of  the  Order  of  Mercy ;  and  in  this  character 
she  often  holds  in  her  hand  small  tablets  bearing 
the  badge  of  the  Order.  (Legends  of  the  Monastic 
Orders,  2d  edit.) 

S.  M.  "  della  Liberta,"  or  "  Liberatrice,"  Our 
Lady  of  Liberty  ;  and  S.  M.  "  della  Catena,"  Our 
Lady  of  Fetters.  In  this  character  she  is  invoked 
by  prisoners  and  captives. 

S.  M.  »  del  Parto,"  Our  Lady  of  Good  Delivery, 
invoked  by  women  in  ti;ivail.* 

S.  M.  "  del  Popolo."     Our  Lady  of  the  People. 

S.  M.  "  della  Vittoria."     Our  Lady  of  Victory. 

S.  M.  "  della  Pace."     Our  Lady  of  Peace. 

S.  M.  "  della  Sapienza,"  Our  Lady  of  Wisdom  ; ' 
Wid  S.  M.  "  della  Perseveranza,"  Our  Lady  of 
Perseverance.      (Sometimes    placed    in    colleges 
with   a  book  in   her  hand,  as  patroness  of  stih 
ients.) 

S.  M.  "  della  Salute."     Our  Lady  of  Health  (H 

•  Dante  alludes  to  her  in  this  character :  — 

**  E  per  Tentura  udi '  Dolce  Maria ! ' 
Dinanzi  a  noi  chiamar  cosl  nel  pianto 
Gome  fa  donna  che  'n  partorir  sia."—  Fiirg.  c.  20s 


INTRODUCTIOK.  81 

Salvation.  Under  this  title  pictures  and  churches 
have  been  dedicated  after  the  cessatiofi  of  a  plague, 
or  any  other  public  calamity.* 

Other  titles  are  derived  from  particular  circum- 
ifcances  and  accessories,  as  — 

S.  M.  "  del  Fresepio,"  Our  Lady  of  the  Cradle  ; 
generally  a  Nativity,  or  when  she  is  adoring  her 
Child. 

S.  M.  "  della  Scodella  "  —  with  the  cup  or  per* 
ringer,  where  she  is  taking  water  from  a  fountain 
generally  a  Riposo. 

S.  M.  "  deir  Libro,"  where  she  holds  the  Book 
of  Wisdom. 

S.  M.  "  della  Cintola,"  Our  Lady  of  the  Girdle , 
where  she  is  either  giving  the  Girdle  to  St.  Thomas, 
3r  where  the  Child  holds  it  in  his  hand. 

S.  M.  "  della  Lettera."  Our  Lady  of  the  Letter. 
This  is  the  title  given  to  Our  Lady  as  protectress 
of  the  city  of  Messina.  According  to  the  Sicilian 
legend,  she  honoured  the  people  of  Messina  by 
writing  a  letter  to  them,  dated  from  Jerusalem,  "  in 
the  year  of  her  Son,  42."  In  the  effigies  of  the 
'■*  Madonna  della  Lettera,"  she  holds  this  letter  in 
her  hand. 

S.  M.  "  della  Rosa."  Our  Lady  of  the  Rose.  A 
title  given  to  several  pictures,  in  which  the  rose, 
which  is  consecrated  to  her,  is  placed  either  in  her 
hand,  or  in  that  of  the  Child. 

S.  M.  "della  Stella."  Our  Lady  of  the  Star, 
She  wears  the  star  as  one  of  her  attributes  em- 
broidered on  her  mantle. 

S.  M.  "  del  Fiore."  Our  Lady  of  the  Flower. 
She  has  this  title  especially  as  protectress  of  Floiv 
ence. 

S.  M.  "  della  Spina."  She  holds  in  her  hand  the 
crown  of  thorns,  and  under  this  title  is  the  protec- 
tress of  Pisa. 

*  There  is  also  somewhere  in  France  a  ahapel  dedicated  to 
fhtre  Dame  de  la  Hain« 


B2  INTRODUCTION. 

S.  M.  "  del  Rosario."  Our  Lady  of  the  Rosary, 
Vrith  the  mystic  string  of  beads.  I  do  not  remem- 
ber any  instance  of  the  Rosary  placed  in  the  hand 
of  the  Virgin  or  the  Child  till  after  the  battle  of 
Lepanto  (1571),  and  the  institution  of  the  Festival 
of  the  Rosary,  as  an  act  of  thanksgiving.  After 
this  time  pictures  of  the  Madonna  "  del  Rosario  " 
abound,  and  may  generally  be  found  in  the  Domin- 
ican churches.  There  is  a  famous  example  by 
Guido  in  the  Bologna  Gallery,  and  a  very  beau- 
tiful one  by  Murillo  in  the  Dulwich  Gallery. 

S.  M.  "del  Carmine."  Our  Lady  of  Mount 
Carmel.  She  is  protectress  of  the  Order  of  the 
Carmelites,  and  is  often  represented  holding  in  her 
hand  small  tablets,  on  which  is  the  ef^gy  of  herself 
with  the  Child. 

S.  M.  "  de  Belem."  Our  Lady  of  Bethlehem. 
Under  this  title  she  is  the  patroness  of  the  Jerony- 
mites,  principally  in  Spain  and  Portugal. 

S.  M.  "  della  Neve."  Our  Lady  of  the  Snow. 
In  Spain,  S.  Maria  la  Blanca.  To  this  legend  of 
the  snow  the  magnificent  church  of  S.  M.  Maggiore 
at  Rome  is  said  to  owe  its  origin.  A  certain  Roman 
patrician,  whose  name  was  John  (Giovanni  Patri- 
cio), being  childless,  prayed  of  the  Virgin  to  direct 
liim  how  best  to  bestow  his  worldly  wealth.  She 
appeared  to  him  in  a  dream  on  the  night  of  the 
fifth  of  August,  352,  and  commanded  him  to  build 
a  church  in  her  honour,  on  a  spot  where  snow 
would  be  found  the  next  morning.  The  same 
vision  having  appeared  to  his  wife  and  the  reign- 
ing pope,  Liberius,  they  repaired  in  procession  the 
Dext  morning  to  the  summit  of  Mount  Esquiline, 
where,  notwithstanding  the  heat  of  the  weather,  a 
large  patch  of  ground  was  miraculously  covered 
with  snow,  and  on  it  Liberius  traced  out  with  his 
crosier  the  plan  of  the  church.  This  story  has 
Deen  often  represented  in  art,  and  is  easily  rec- 
^nized ;    but   it   is    curious   that    the    two    mos* 


INTRODUCTION.  81 

beautiful  pictures  consecrated  to  the  honour  of 
kbe  Madonna  della  Neve  are  Spanish  and  not 
BiOman,  and  were  painted  by  Murillo  about  the 
time  that  Philip  IV.  of  Spain  sent  rich  offerings 
to  the  church  of  S.  M.  Maggiore,  thus  giving  a 
kind  of  popularity  to,  the  legend.  The  picture 
represents  the  patrician  John  and  his  wife  asleep, 
and  the  Vision  of  the  Virgin  (one  of  the  lovelies*, 
ever  painted  by  Murillo)  breaking  upon  them  in 
splendour  through  the  darkness  of  the  night ;  while 
in  the  dim  distance  is  seen  the  Esquiline  (or  what 
is  meant  for  it)  covered  with  snow.  In  the  second 
picture,  John  and  his  wife  are  kneeling  before  the 
pope,  "  a  grand  old  ecclesiastic,  like  one  of  Titian's 
pontiffs.*'  These  pictures,  after  being  carried  off 
Dy  the  French  from  the  little  church  of  S.  M.  la 
Blanca  at  Seville,  are  now  in  the  royal  gallery  at 
Madrid. 

S.  Maria  "  di  Loretto."  Our  Lady  of  Loretto. 
The  origin  of  this  title  is  the  famous  legend  of  the 
Santa  Casa,  the  house  at  Nazareth,  which  was  the 
birthplace  of  the  Virgin,  and  the  scene  of  the  An- 
nunciation. During  the  incursions  of  the  Saracens, 
the  Santa  Casa  being  threatened  with  profanation, 
if  not  destruction,  was  taken  up  by  the  angels  and 
conveyed  over  land  and  sea  till  it  was  set  down  on 
the  coast  of  Dalmatia  ;  but  not  being  safe  there, 
the  angels  again  took  it  up,  and,  bearing  it  over 
the  Adriatic,  set  it  down  In  a  grove  near  Loretto. 
But  certain  wicked  brigands  having  disturbed  its 
eacred  quietude  by  strife  and  murder,  the  house 
again  changed  its  place,  and  was  at  length  set 
down  on  the  spot  where  it  now  stands.  The  date 
ttf  this  miracle  is  placed  in  1295. 

The  Madonna  di  Loretto  is  usually  represented 
as  seated  with  the  divine  Child  on  the  roof  of  a 
bouse,  which  is  sustained  at  the  corners  by  four 
'ingels,  and  thus  borne  over  sea  and  land.  From 
cue  celebrity  of  Loretto  as  a  place  of  pilgrimage 


84  INTRODUCTION. 

this  representation  became  popular,  and  is  ofte« 
found  in  chapels  dedicated  to  our  Lady  of  Loretto 
Another  ef^gy  of  our  Lady  of  Loretto  is  merely  a 
copy  of  a  very  old  Greek  "  Virgin  and  Child " 
which  is  enshrined  in  the  Santa  Casa. 
'  S.  M.  "  del  Pillar,"  Our  J.ady  of  the  Pillar,  ia 
protectress  of  Saragossa.  According  to  the  Legend^ 
she  descended  from  heaven  standing  on  an  alabas- 
ter pillar,  and  thus  appeared  to  St.  James  (San- 
tiago) when  he  was  preaching  the  gospel  in  Spain. 
The  miraculous  pillar  is  preserved  in  the  cathedral 
of  Saragossa,  and  the  legend  appears  frequently  iu 
Spanish  art.  Also  in  a  very  inferior  picture  bj 
Nicolo  Poussin,  now  in  the  Louvre. 

Some  celebrated  pictures  are  individually  diatin 
guished  by  titles  derived  from  some  particular  ob 
jcct  in  the  composition,  as  Raphael's  Madonna  d6» 
Impannata,  so  called  from  the  window  in  the  back- 
ground being  partly  shaded  with  a  piece  of  linen 
(in  the  Pitti  Pal.,  Florence)  ;  Correggio's  Viergs 
au  Panier^  so  called  from  the  work-basket  which 
stands  beside  her  (in  our  Nat.  Gal.)  ;  Murillo*s 
Virgen  de  la  Servilleta,  the  Virgin  of  the  Napkin, 
in  allusion  to  the  dinner  napkin  on  which  it  was 
painted.*  Others  are  denominated  from  certain 
localities,  as  the  Madonna  di  Foligno  (now  in  the 
Vatican) ;  others  from  the  names  of  families  to 
whom  tjjey  have  belonged,  as  La  Madonna  delta 
Famiglia  Staffa,  at  Perugia. 


Those  visions  and  miracles  with  which  the  Vir- 
gin Mary  favoured  many  of  the  saints,  as  St.  Luke 
[who  was  her  secretary  and  painter),  St.  Cathe- 
rine, St.  Francis,  St.  Herman,  and  others,  hav^ 

•  There  is  a  beautiful  engraving  in  Stirling's  **  Annals  of  thf 
Artists  of  Spain." 


INTRODUCTION.  85 

ilready  be^n  related  in  the  former  volumes,  and 
need  not  be  repeated  here. 

With  regard  to  the  churches  dedicated  to  the 
Virgin,  I  shall  not  attempt  to  enumerate  even  the 
most  remarkable,  as  almost  every  town  in  Christian 
Europe  contains  one  or  more  bearing  her  name. 
The  most  ancient  of  which  tradition  speaks,  was  a 
chapel  beyond  the  Tiber,  at  Rome,  which  is  said  to 
have  been  founded  in  217,  on  the  site  where  S. 
Maria  in  Trastevcre  now  stands.  But  there  are 
one  or  two  which  carry  their  pretensions  much 
higher;  for  the  cathedral  at  Toledo  and  the  cathe- 
dral at  Chartres  both  claim  the  honour  of  having 
been  dedicated  to  the  Virgin  while  she  was  yet 
alive.* 


Brief  and  inadequate  as  are  these  introductory 
notices,  they  will,  I  hope,  facilitate  the  comprehen- 
sion of  the  critical  details  into  which  it  has  been 
necessary  to  enter  in  the  following  pages,  and  lend 
Bome  new  interest  to  the  subjects  described.  I  have 
heard  the  artistic  treatment  of  the  Madonna  styled 
a  monotonous  theme ;  and  to  those  who  see  only 
the  perpetual  iteration  of  the  same  groups  on  the 
walls  of  churches  and  galleries,  varied  as  they  may 
suppose  only  by  the  fancy  of  the  painter,  it  may 
seem  so.  But  beyond  the  visible  forms,  there  lies 
much  that  is  suggestive  to  a  thinking  mind  —  to  the 
lover  of  Art  a  higher  significance,  a  deeper  beauty, 
t*  more  various  interest,  than  could  at  first  be  imag- 
ined. 

In  fact,  the  greatest  mistakes  in  point  of  taste 
arise  in  general  from  not  knowing  what  we  ought 
^o  demand  of  the  artist,  not  only  in  regard  to  the 
lubject  expressed,  but  with  reference  to  the  times 

*  In  England  we  have  2,120  churches  dedicated  in  her  hon- 
mr ;  and  one  of  the  largest  and  most  important  of  ^he  Londoa 
Ifikrishes  bears  her  name  —   '  St.  Marie-la-bont;o  '' 


86  SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES. 

in  which  he  lived,  and  his  own  individuahty.  An 
axiom  which  I  have  heard  confidently  set  forth,  that 
a  picture  is  worth  nothing  unless  "he  who  runa 
may  read,"  has  inundated  the  world  with  frivoloua 
and  pedantic  criticism.  A  picture  or  any  other 
work  of  Art,  is  worth  nothing  except  in  so  far  as  it 
has  emanated  from  mind,  and  is  addressed  to  mind. 
It  should,  indeed,  be  read  like  a  book.  Pictures, 
as  it  has  been  well  said,  are  the  books  of  the  unlet- 
tered, but  then  we  must  at  least  understand  the 
language  in  which  they  are  written.  And  further, 
—  if,  in  the  old  times,  it  was  a  species  of  idolatry  to 
regard  these  beautiful  representations  as  endued 
with  a  specific  sanctity  and  power ;  so,  in  these 
days,  it  is  a  sort  of  atheism  to  look  upon  them  reck- 
less of  their  significance,  regardless  of  the  influ- 
ences through  which  they  were  produced,  without 
acknowledgment  of  the  mind  which  called  them 
into  being,  without  reference  to  the  intention  of  the 
artist  in  his  own  creation. 


SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES  TO  THE  SEC- 
OND EDITION. 


In  the  first  edition  of  this  work,  only  a  passing 
allusion  was  made  to  those  female  effigies,  by  some 
styled  "  la  donna  orante  "  (the  Praymg  Woman) 
and  by  others  supposed  to  represent  Mary  the 
Mother  of  our  Lord,  of  which  so  many  examples 
exist  in  the  Catacombs  and  in  the  sculptured 
groups  on  the  ancient  Christian  sarcophagi.  I 
know  it  has  long  been  a  disputed,  or  at  least  an 
unsettled  and  doubtful  point,  as  to  whether  certain 
female  figures  existing  on   the  earhest   Chrlsiiair 


SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES.  87 

jnonuments  were  or  were  not  intended  to  represent 
the  Virgin  Mary.  The  Protestants,  on  the  one 
hand,  as  if  still  inspired  by  that  superstition  against 
superstition  which  led  to  the  violent  and  vulgar  de- 
struction of  so  many  beautiful  works  of  art,  and 
the  Catholics  on  the  other,  jealous  to  maintain  the 
authenticity  of  these  figures  as  a  testimony  to  the 
ancient  worship  of  the  Virgin,  both  appear  to  me 
to  have  taken  an  exaggerated  and  prejudiced  view 
of  a  subject  which  ought  to  be  considered  dispas- 
sionately on  purely  antiquarian  and  critical  grounds. 
Having  had  the  opportunity,  during  a  late  resi- 
dence in  Italy,  of  reconsidering  and  comparing  a 
great  number  of  these  antique  representations,  and 
having  heard  the  opinions  of  antiquarians,  theolo- 
gians, and  artists,  who  had  given  their  attention  to 
the  subject,  and  who  occasionally  differed  from 
each  other  as  to  the  weight  of  evidence,  I  have 
arrived  at  the  conviction,  that  some  of  these  effigies 
represent  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  others  do  not.  I 
confess  I  do  not  believe  .n  any  authentic  represen- 
tation of  the  Virgin  holding  the  Divine  Child  older 
than  the  sixth  century,  except  when  introduced 
into  the  groups  of  the  Nativity  and  the  Worship 
of  the  Magi.  Previous  to  the  Nestorian  contro- 
versy, these  maternal  effigies,  as  objects  of  devo- 
tion, were,  I  still  beheve,  unknown,  but  I  cannot 
understand  why  there  should  exist  among  Protes- 
tants, so  strong  a  disposition  to  discredit  every  rep- 
resentation of  Mary  the  Mother  of  our  Lord  to 
which  a  high  antiquity  had  been  assigned  by  the 
Roman  Catholics.  We  know  that  as  early  as  the 
second  century,  not  only  symbolical  figures  of  our 
Lord,  but  figures  of  certain  personages  of  holy  life, 
as  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  Agnes  the  Roman,  and 
Euphemia  the  Greek,  martyr,  did  certainly  exist. 
The  critical  and  historical  testimony  I  have  given 
elsewhere.  (Sacred  and  Legendary  Art.)  Why 
therefore  should  there  not  have  existed  effigies  oi 


88  SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES.     • 

the  Mother  of  Christ,  of  the  "  Woman  highly 
blessed,"  the  subject  of  so  many  prophecies,  and 
naturally  the  object  of  a  tender  and  just  venera* 
tlon  among  the  early  Christians  ?  It  seems  to  me 
that  nothing  could  be  more  Hkely,  and  that  such 
representations  ought  to  have  a  deep  interest  for 
all  Christians,  no  matter  of  what  denomination  — 
for  a/Z,  in  truth,  who  believe  that  the  Saviour  of 
the  world  had  a  good  Mother,  His  only  earthly 
parent,  who  brought  Him  forth,  nurtured  and  loved 
Him.  That  it  should  be  considered  a  point  of 
faith  with  Protestants  to  treat  such  memorials  with 
incredulity  and  even  derision,  appears  to  me  most 
inconsistent  and  unaccountable,  though  I  confess 
that  between  these  simple  primitive  memorials  and 
the  sumptuous  tasteless  column  and  image  recently 
erected  at  Rome  there  is  a  very  wide  margin  of 
disputable  ground,  of  which  I  shall  say  no  more  in 
this  place.  But  to  return  to  the  antique  concep- 
tion of  the  "Donna  orante"  or  so-called  Virgin 
Mother,  I  will  mention  here  only  the  most  remark- 
able examples ;  for  to  enter  fully  into  the  subject 
would  occupy  a  volume  in  itself 

There  is  a  figure  often  met  with  in  the  Cata- 
combs and  on  the  sarcophagi  of  a  majestic  woman 
standing  with  outspread  arms  (the  ancient  attitude 
of  prayerV  or  holding  a  book  or  scroll  in  her  hand. 
When  this  figure  stands  alone  and  unaccompanied 
by  any  attribute,  1  think  the  signification  doubtful : 
but  in  the  Catacomb  of  St.  Ciriaco  there  is  a 
painted  figure  of  a  woman,  with  arms  outspread 
and  sustained  on  each  side  by  figures,  evidently  St 
Peter  and  St.  Paul;  on  the  sarcophagi  the  same 
figure  frequently  occurs ;  and  there  are  other  ex- 
amples certainly  not  later  than  the  third  and  fourth 
century.  That  these  represent  Mary  the  Mother 
of  Christ  I  have  not  the  least  doubt ;  I  think  it  haa 
^een  fully  demonstrated  that  no  other  Christian 
wcMnan  could  have  been  so  represented,  consider 


SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES.  8B 

mg  the  manners  and  habits  of  the  Christian  com- 
munity at  that  period.  Then  the  attitude  and  type 
are  precisely  similar  to  those  of  the  ancient  Byzan- 
tine Madonnas  and  the  Italian  mosaics  of  Eastern 
workmanship,  proving,  as  I  think,  that  there  ex- 
isted a  common  traditional  original  for  this  figure, 
the  idea  of  which  has  been  preserved  and  trans- 
mitted in  these  early  copies. 

Further:  —  there  exist  in  the  Roman  museums 
many  fragments  of  ancient  glass  found  in  the 
Christian  tombs,  on  which  are  rudely  pictured  in 
colours  figures  exactly  similar,  and  having  the  name 
MARIA  inscribed  above  them.  On  one  of  these 
fragments  I  found  the  same  female  figure  between 
two  male  figures,  with  the  names  inscribed  over 
them,  MARIA.  PETRVS.  PAVLVS.,  generally 
in  the  rudest  and  most  imperfect  style,  as  if  issuing 
from  some  coarse  manufacture;  but  showing  that 
they  have  had  a  common  origin  with  those  far 
superior  figures  in  the  Catacombs  and  on  the  sar- 
cophagi, while  the  inscribed  names  leave  no  doubt 
as  to  the  significance. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  similar  fragments 
of  coarse  glass  found  in  the  Catacombs  —  either 
lamps  or  small  vases,  bearing  the  same  female  in 
the  attitude  of  prayer,  and  superscribed  in  rude 
letters,  Dulcis  anima  pie  Zeses  vivas.  (Zeses 
instead  of  Jesus.)  Such  may,  possibly,  represent, 
not  the  Virgin  Mary,  but  the  Christian  matron  or 
martyr  buried  in  the  tomb;  at  least,  I  consider 
them  as  doubtful. 

The  Cavaliere  Rossi,  whose  celebrity  as  an  anti- 
quarian is  not  merely  Italian,  but  European,  and 
whose  impartiality  can  hardly  be  doubted,  told  me 
that  a  Christian  sarcophagus  had  lately  been  dis- 
covered at  Saint-Maxime,  in  the  south  of  France, 
on  which  there  is  the  same  group  of  the  female 
figure  praying,  and  over  it  the  name  MARIA. 

I  ought  to  add,  that  on  one  of  these  sarcophagi^ 


M  SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES- 

bearing  the  oft  repeated  subject  of  the  good  Shep* 
herd  feeding  His  sheep,  I  found,  as  the  companion 
group,  a  female  figure  in  the  act  of  feeding  birds 
which  are  fluttering  to  her  feet.  It  is  not  doubted 
that  the  good  Shepherd  is  the  symbol  of  the  benefi- 
cent Christ;  whether  the  female  figure  represent 
the  Virgin-mother,  or  is  to  be  regarded  merely  as 
a  general  symbol  of  female  beneficence,  placed  on 
B  par  with  that  of  Christ  (in  His  human  character), 
I  will  not  pretend  to  decide.  It  is  equally  toucn- 
ing  and  beautiful  in  either  significance. 

Three  examples  of  these  figures  occur  to  me. 

The  first  is  from  a  Christian  sarcophagus  of  early 
date,  and  in  a  good  style  of  art,  probably  of  the 
third  century  —  it  is  a  noble  figure,  in  the  attitude 
of  prayer,  and  separated  from  the  other  groups  by 
a  palm-tree  on  each  side  —  at  her  feet  is  a  bird 
(perhaps  a  dove,  the  ancient  symbol  of  the  released 
soul),  and  scrolls  which  represent  the  gospel.  I 
regard  this  figure  as  doubtful ;  it  may  possibly  be 
the  effigy  of  a  Christian  matron,  who  was  interred 
in  the  sarcophagus. 

The  second  example  is  also  from  a  sarcophagus. 
It  is  a  figure  holding  a  scroll  of  the  gospel,  and 
standing  between  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul ;  on  each 
side  (in  the  original)  there  are  groups  expressing 
the  beneficent  miracles  of  our  Lord.  This  figure, 
I  belisve,  represents  the  Virgin  Mary. 

In  the  third  example,  the  conspicuous  female 
figure  is  combined  with  the  series  of  groups  on 
each  side.  She  stands  with  hands  outspread,  in 
the  attitude  of  prayer,  between  the  two  apostles, 
v^ho  seem  to  sustain  her  arms.  On  one  side  is  the 
.tiiracle  of  the  water  changed  into  wine ;  on  the 
other  side,  Christ  healing  the  woman  who  touched 
His  garment ;  both  of  perpetual  recurrence  in  these 
Bculptures.  Of  these  groups  of  the  miracles  and 
actions  of  Christ  on  the  early  Christian  sarcophagi, 
I  shall  give  a  full  account  in  the  "  History  of  oui 


SUPPLEMENTARY   IvOTES.  9" 

Lord,  as  illustrated  in  the  fine  arts ; "  at  present  I 
confinvs  myself  to  the  female  figure  which  takes 
this  conspicuous  place,  while  other  female  figures 
are  prostrate,  or  of  a  diminutive  size,  to  express 
their  humility  or  inferiority ;  and  I  have  no  doubt 
that  thus  situated  it  is  intended  to  represent  the 
woman  who  was  highly  honoured  as  well  as  highly 
blessed  —  the  Mother  of  our  Saviour. 

I  have  come  therefore  to  the  conclusion,  that 
while  many  of  these  figures  have  a  certain  signifi- 
cance, others  are  uncertain.  Where  the  figure  ia 
isolated,  or  placed  within  a  frame  or  border,  like 
the  memorial  busts  and  effigies  on  the  Pagan  sar- 
cophagi, I  think  it  may  be  regarded  as  probably 
commemorating  the  Christian  martyr  or  matron 
entombed  in  the  sarcophagus;  but  when  there  is 
no  division,  where  the  figure  forms  part  of  a  contin- 
uous series  of  groups,  expressing  the  character  and 
miracles  of  Christ,  I  beheve  that  it  represents  His 
mother. 

n. 

The  BoRGHESE  Chapel,  in  the  church  of  St. 
Maria  Maggiore  at  Rome,  was  dedicated  to  the 
honour  of  the  Virgin  Mary  by  Paul  V.  (Borghese), 
in  1611 — the  same  Pope  who  in  1615  promulgated 
the  famous  Bull  relative  to  the  Immaculate  Con- 
ception. The  scheme  of  decoration  in  this  gor- 
geous chapel  is  very  remarkable,  as  testifying  to  the 
development  which  the  theological  idea  of  the  Vir- 
gin, as  the  Sposa  or  personified  Church,  had  at* 
tained  at  this  period,  and  because  it  is  not,  as  in 
dther  examples,  either  historical  or  devotional,  but 
purely  doctrinal. 

As  we  enter,  the  profusion  of  ornament,  the 
splendour  of  colour,  marbles,  gilding,  from  the  pave- 
ment under  our  fe^t  to  the  summit  of  the  lofty 
dome,  are  really  dazzling.  First,  and  elevated 
ibove  all,  we  have  the  "Madonna  della  Conce 


92  SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES. 

fcione,"  Our  Lady  of  the  Immaculate  Conception, 
in  a  glory  of  light,  sustained  and  surrounded  by 
angels,  having  the  crescent  under  her  feet,  accord- 
ing to  the  approved  treatment.  Beneath,  round 
the  dome,  we  read  in  conspicious  letters  the  text 
from   the   Revelations:  —  Signum.  magnum,  ap- 

PARAVIT.  IN  C(ELO.  MULIER.  AmICTA.    SoLE.  ET. 

Luna.  sub.  pedibus.  ejus.  et.  in  capite.  ejus. 
CORONA,  stellarum.  Duodecim.  (Rev.  xii.  1.) 
Lower  down  is  a  second  inscription,  expressing  the 
dedication.  Mari^.  Christi.  matrj.  semper. 
viRGiNi.  Paulus.  Quintus.  P.M.  The  decora- 
tions beneath  the  cornice  consist  of  eighteen  large 
frescoes,  and  six  statues  in  marble,  above  life  size. 
Beginning  with  the  frescoes,  we  have  the  subjects 
arranged  in  the  following  order :  — 

1.  The  four  great  prophets,  Isaiah,  Jeremiah, 
Eeekiel,  and  Daniel,  in  their  usual  place  in  the 
four  pendentives  of  the  dome.  (v.  The  Introduction. ) 

2.  Two  large  frescoes.  In  the  first,  the  Vision  of 
St.  Gregory  Thaumaturgus,*  and  Heretics  bitten 
by  Serpents.  In  the  second,  St.  John  Damascene 
and  St.  Ildefonso  miraculously  rewarded  for  de- 
fending the  Majesty  of  the  Virgin.  (Sacred  and 
Legendary  Art.) 

3.  A  large  fresco,  representing  the  four  Doctors 
of  the  Church  who  had  especially  written  in  honour 
©f  the  Virgin :  viz.  Ireneus  and  Cyprian,  Ignatius 
and  Theophilus,  grouped  two  and  two. 

4.  St.  Luke,  who  painted  the  Virgin,  and  whose 
gospel  contains  the  best  account  of  her. 

5.  As  spiritual  conquerors  in  the  name  of  the 
Virgin,  St.  Dominic  and  St.  Francis,  each  attended 
Dy  two  companions  of  his  Order. 

6.  As  military  conquerors  in  the  name  of  the 

*  St.  Gregory  Thaumaturgus,  Bishop  of  Pontus  in  the  third 
eentury,  was  favoured  by  a  vision  of  the  Trinity,  which  enabled 
him  to  confute  and  utterly  subdue  the  Sabelliau  heretics  —  tb« 
Vni Marians  of  his  time. 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES.  9^ 

Va^i,  t^e  Emperor  Heracllus,  and  Narscs.  the 
general  against  the  Ariaifs. 

7.  A  group  of  three  female  figures,  i-epresentlng 
\he  three  famous  saintly  princesses  who  in  marriage 
preserved  their  virginity,  Pulcheria,  Edeltruda  (our 
lamous  queen  Ethelreda),  and  Cunegunda.  (For 
the  legends  of  Cunegunda  and  Ethelreda,  see  Le- 
gends of  the  Monastic  Orders. 

8.  A  group  of  three  learned  Bishops,  who  had 
'jspecially  defended  the  immaculate  purity  of  the 
Virgin,  St.  Cyril,  St.  Anselm,  and  St.  Denis  (?). 

9.  The  miserable  ends  of  those  who  were  op- 
posed to  the  honour  of  the  Virgin.  1.  The  death 
of  Julian  the  Apostate,  very  oddly  represented; 
he  lies  on  an  altar,  transfixed  by  an  arrow,  as  a 
victim ;  St.  Mercurius  in  the  air.  (For  this  legend 
see  Sacred  and  Legendary  Art.)  2.  The  death 
of  Leo  IV.,  who  destroyed  'the  effigies  of  the  Vir- 
gin. 3.  The  death  of  Constantine  IV.,  also  a 
femous  iconoclast. 

The  statues  which  are  placed  in  niches  are  — 

1,  2.  St.  Joseph,  as  the  nominal  husband,  and 
St.  John  the  Evangelist,  as  the  nominal  son  of  the 
Virgin ;  the  latter,  also,  as  prophet  and  poet,  with 
reference  to  the  passage  in  the  Revelation,  c.  xii,  1. 

3,  4.  Aaron,  as  priestly  ancestor  (because  his 
wand  blossomed),  and  David,  as  kingly  ancestor 
of  the  Virgin. 

5,  6.  St.  Dionysius  the  Areopagite,  who  was 
present  at  the  death  of  the  Virgin,  and  St.  Ber- 
nard, who  composed  the  famous  "  Salve  Regina  "  in 
her  honour. 

Such  is  this  grand  systematic  scheme  of  decora- 
tion, which,  to  those  who  regard  it  cursorily,  is 
merely  .a  sumptuous  confusion  of  colours  and  forms, 
or  at  best,  "  a  fine  example  of  the  Guido  school 
and  Bernino."  It  is  altogether  a  very  complete 
and  magnificent  specimen  of  the  prevalent  style  of 
%rt,  and  a  very  comprehensive  and  suggestive  ix 
7 


•4  SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES. 

preseion  of  the  prevalent  tendency  of  tliouglit,  in 
the  Roman  Catholic  Charch  from  the  beginning  of 
ihe  seventeenth  century.  In  no  description  of  th'^ 
chapel  have  I  ever  seen  the  names  and  subjects 
accurately  given :  the  style  of  art  belongs  to  the 
decadence^  and  the  taste  being  worse  than  question- 
able, the  pervading  doctrinal  idea  has  been  negf- 
lected,  or  never  understood. 


m. 

Those  pictures  which  represent  the  Virgin  Mary 
kneeling  before  the  celestial  throne,  while  the 
Padre  Eterno  or  the  Messiah  extends  his 
hand  or  his  sceptre  towards  her,  are  generally  mis- 
understood. They  do  not  represent  the  Assump- 
tion, nor  yet  the  reception  of  Mary  in  Heaven,  as 
is  usually  supposed ;  but  the  election  or  predestina- 
tion of  Mary  as  the  immaculate  vehicle  or  taber- 
nacle of  human  redemption  —  the  earthly  parent" 
of  the  divine  Saviour.  I  have  described  such  a 
picture  by  Dosso  Dossi,  and  another  by  Cottignola. 
A  third  example  may  be  cited  in  a  yet  more  beau- 
tiful and  celebrated  picture  by  Francia,  now  in  the 
Church  at  San  Frediano  at  Lucca.  Above,  in  the 
glory  of  Heaven,  the  Virgin  kneels  before  the 
throne  of  the  Creator;  she  is  clad  in  regal  attire 
of  purple  and  crimson  and  gold ;  and  she  bends 
hei  fair  crowned  head,  and  folds  her  hands  upon 
her  bosom  with  an  expression  of  meek  yet  digni- 
fied resignation  —  '''•Behold  the  handmaid  of  the 
Lord  !  "  —  accepting,  as  woman,  that  highest  glory, 
as  mother,  that  extremest  giief,  to  which  the  Divine 
will,  as  spoken  by  the  prophets  of  old,  had  called 
her.  Below,  on  the  earth  and  to  the  right  hand, 
stand  David  and  Solomon,  as  prophets  and  kingly 
ancestors :  on  the  left  hand,  St.  Augustine  and  St. 
Anselm  in  their  episcopal  robes.  (I  have  men 
lioned,  with  regard  to  the  office  in  honour  of  the 


SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTES.  95 

Immaculate  Conception,  that  the  idea  is  said  to 
have  originated  in  England.  I  should  also  have 
added,  that  Anselm,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
was  its  strenuous  advocate.)  Each  of  these  per- 
sonages holds  a  scroll.  On  that  of  David  the 
reference  is  to  the  4th  and  5th  verses  of  Psalm 
xxvii.  —  "/n  the  secret  of  his  tabernacle  he  shall 
hide  me**  On  that  of  Solomon  is  the  text  from  his 
Song,  ch.  iv.  7.  On  that  of  St.  Augustine,  a  quo- 
tation, I  presume,  from  his  works,  but  difficult  to 
make  out;  it  seems  to  be,  "in  coelo  qualis  est 
Pater  J  talis  est  Filius;  qualis  est  Filius,  talis  est 
Mater"  On  that  of  St.  Anselm  the  same  inscrip- 
tion which  is  on  the  picture  of  Cottignola  quoted 
before,  " non  puto  vere  esse"  &c.,  which  is,  I  sup- 
pose, taken  from  his  works.  In  the  centre,  St 
Anthony  of  Padua  kneels  beside  the  sepulchre 
full  of  lilies  and  roses ;  showing  the  picture  to  have 
been  painted  for,  or  under  the  influence  of,  the 
Franciscan  Order ;  and,  like  other  pictures  of  the 
same  class,  "an  attempt  to  express  in  a  visible 
form  the  idea  or  promise  of  the  redemption  of  the 
human  race,  as  existing  in  the  Sovereign  Eternal 
Mind  before  the  beginning  of  the  world."  This 
altar-piece  has  no  date,  but  appears  to  have  been 

Sainted  about  the  same  time  as  the  picture  in  our 
rational  Gallery  (No.  179.),  which  came  from  the 
same  church.  As  a  work  of  art  it  is  most  wonder- 
fully beautiful.  The  editors  of  the  last  excellent 
edition  of  Vasari  speak  of  it  with  just  enthusiasm 
as  "  Opera  veramente  stupenda  in  ogni  parte!" 
The  predella  beneath,  painted  in  chiaro-oscuro,  is 
also  of  exquisite  beauty ;  and  let  us  hope  that  we 
ihall  never  see  it  separated  from  the  great  subject, 
like  a  page  or  a  paragraph  torn  out  of  a  book  b? 
'^norant  and  childish  collectors. 


16  SUPPLEMENTARY   NOTF.8. 


IV. 

Althougli  the  Nativity  of  the  Virgin  Mary  is  one 
of  the  great  festivals  of  the  Roman  Catholic  ChurcL, 
I  have  seldom  seen  it  treated  as  a  separate  subject 
and  an  altar-piece.  There  is,  however,  a  very  re- 
markable example  in  the  Belle  Arti  at  Siena.  It 
is  a  triptych  enclosed  in  a  framework  elaborately 
carved  and  gilt,  in  the  Gothic  style.  In  the  centre 
compartment,  St.  Anna  lies  on  a  rich  couch  covered 
with  crimson  drapery ;  a  graceful  female  presents 
an  embroidered  napkin,  others  enter,  bringing  re- 
freshments, as  usual.  In  front,  three  attendants 
minister  to  the  Infant :  one  of  them  is  in  an  atti- 
tude of  admiration ;  on  the  right,  Joachim  seated, 
with  white  hair  and  beard,  receives  the  congratu- 
lations of  a  young  man  who  seems  to  envy  his  pa- 
ternity. In  the  compartment  on  the  right  stand 
St.  James  Major  and  St.  Catherine;  on  the  left, 
St.  Bartholomew  and  St.  Elizabeth  of  Hungary  (?). 
This  picture  is  in  the  hard  primitive  style  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  by  an  unknown  painter,  who 
must  have  lived  before  Giovanni  di  Paolo,  but  viv- 
idly coloured,  exquisitely  finished,  and  fiill  of  senti- 
ment and  dramatic  feeling. 


DEVOTIONAL    SUBJECTS. 


PART  I. 
THE  VIRGIN  WITHOUT  THE  CHILD. 

1.  LA  VERGINE  GLORIOSA.  2.  L*  INCORONATA. 
3.  LA  MADONNA  DI  MI8ERIC0RDIA.  4.  LA  MA- 
DRE  DOLOROSA.      6.    LA   CONCEZIONE. 

THE  VIRGIN  MART. 

Lot  1.  Virgo  Gloriosa.  2.  Virgo  Sponsa  Dei.  3.  Virgo  Potens 
4.  Virgo  Veneranda.  5.  Virgo  Praedicanda.  6.  Virgo  Cle- 
mens. 7.  Virgo  Sapientissima.  8.  Sancta  Virgo  Virginum. 
[tal.  La  Vergine  Gloriosa.  La  Gran  Vergine  dalle  Vergini. 
Fr.  La  Grande  Vierge. 

There  are  representations  of  the  Virgin,  and 
among  them  some  of  the  earliest  in  existence, 
wnich  place  her  before  us  as  an  object  of  religious 
veneration,  but  in  which  the  predominant  idea  is 
not  that  of  her  maternity,  No  doubt  it  was  as  the 
mother  of  the  Saviour  Christ  that  she  was  origi- 
nally venerated ;  but  in  the  most  ancient  monu- 
ments of  the  Christian  faith,  the  sarcophagi,  the 
rude  paintings  in  the  catacombs,  and  the  mosaics 
executed  before  the  seventh  century,  she  appears 
limply  as  a  veiled  female  figure,  not  in  any  respect 


98       LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

characterized.  She  stands,  in  a  subordinate  posi* 
don,  on  one  side  of  Christ ;  St.  Peter  or  St.  John 
the  Baptist  on  the  other. 

When  the  worship  of  the  Virgin  came  to  vm 
from  the  East,  with  it  came  the  Greek  type  —  and 
for  ages  we  had  no  other — the  Greek  classical 
type,  with  something  of  the  Oriental  or  Egyptian 
character.  When  thus  she  stands  before  us  with- 
out her  Son,  and  the  apostles  or  saints  on  each 
side  taking  the  subordinate  position,  then  we  are  to 
regard  her  not  only  as  the  mother  of  Christ,  but  as 
the  second  Eve,  the  mother  of  all  suffering  human- 
ity ;  The  Woman  of  the  primeval  prophecy  whose 
issue  was  to  bruise  the  head  of  the  Serpent ;  the 
Virgin  predestined  from  the  beginning  of  the 
world  who  was  to  bring  forth  the  Redeemer  of  the 
world ;  the  mystical  Spouse  of  the  Canticles ;  the 
glorified  Bride  of  a  celestial  Bridegroom  ;  the  re- 
ceived Type  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  afflicted  on 
earth,  triumphant  and  crowned  in  heaven  ;  the 
most  glorious,  most  pure,  most  pious,  Eftost  clement, 
most  sacred  Queen  and  Mother,  Virgin  of  Virgins. 

The  form  under  which  we  find  this  grand  and 
mysterious  idea  of  glorified  womanhood  originally 
embodied,  is  wonderfully  majestic  and  simple.  A 
female  figure  of  colossal  dimensions,  far  exceeding 
in  proportion  all  the  attendant  personages  and  ac- 
cessories, stands  immediately  beneath  some  figure 
or  emblem  representing  almighty  power :  either  it 
ta  the  omnipotent  hand  stretched  out  above  her 
holding  the  crown  of  immortality  ;  or  it  is  the  my* 


LA   VERGINE   GLORIOSA.  98 

he  dove  which  hovers  over  her ;  or  it  is  the  half- 
forpi  of  Christ,  in  the  act  of  benediction. 

She  stands  with  arms  raised  and  extended  wide, 
the  ancient  attitude  of  prayer ;  or  with  hands  mere- 
ly stretched  forth,  expressing  admiration,  humility, 
and  devout  love.  She  is  attired  in  an  ample  tu- 
nic of  blue  or  white,  with  a  white  veil  over  her 
head,  thrown  a  little  back,  and  displaying  an  ovai 
face  with  regular  features,  mild,  dignified — some- 
times, in  the  figures  of  the  ruder  ages,  rather  stem 
and  melancholy,  from  the  inability  of  the  artist  to 
express  beauty  ;  but  when  least  beautiful,  and  most 
formal  and  motionless,  always  retaining  something 
of  the  original  conception,  and  often  expressibly 
striking  and  majestic. 

The  earliest  figure  of  this  character  to  which  I 
can  refer  is  the  mosaic  in  the  oratory  of  San  Ve- 
nanzio,  in  the  Lateran,  the  work  of  Greek  artists  un 
der  the  popes  John  IV.  and  Theodorus,  both  Greeks 
by  birth,  and  who  presided  over  the  Church  from 
640  to  649.  In  the  vault  of  the  tribune,  over  the 
altar,  we  have  first,  at  the  summit,  a  figure  of  Christ 
half-length,  with  his  hand  extended  in  benediction  ; 
on  each  side,  a  worshipping  angel ;  below,  in  the  cen- 
tre, the  figure  of  the  Virgin  according  to  the  an- 
cient type,  standing  with  extended  arms,  in  a  vio- 
let or  rather  dark-blue  tunic  and  white  veil,  with  a 
small  cross  pendant  on  her  bosom.  On  her  right 
hand  stands  St.  Paul,  on  her  left  St.  Peter  ;  beyond 
St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  St.  John  the  Baptist  hold- 
ing a  cross,  and  St.  John  the  Evangelist  holding  a 


iOO  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MADONNA. 

hook;  and  beyond  these  again,  St.  Domnio  and 
St  Venantius,  two  martyred  saints,  who  perished  in 
Dalmatia,  and  whose  relics  were  brought  out  of 
that  country  by  the  founder  of  the  chapel,  John 
IV.,  himself  a  Dalmatian  by  birth.  At  the  ex- 
tremities of  this  group,  or  rather  line  of  figures, 
stand  the  two  popes,  John  IV.  and  Theodorus,  un- 
der whom  the  chapel  was  founded  and  dedicated. 
Although  this  ancient  mosaic  has  been  many  times 
restored,  the  original  composition  remains. 

Similar,  but  of  later  date,  is  the  ef^gy  of  the 
Virgin  over  the  altar  of  the  archiepiscopal  chapel 
at  Ravenna.  This  mosaic,  with  others  of  Greek 
work,  was  brought  from  the  old  tribune  of  the  ca- 
thedral, when  it  was  altered  and  repaired,  and  the 
ancient  decorations  removed  or  destroyed. 

Another  instance,  also,  at  Ravenna,  is  the  basso- 
relievo  in  Greek  marble,  and  evidently  of  Greek 
workmanship,  which  is  said  to  have  existed  from  the 
earliest  ages,  in  the  church  of  S.  Maria-in-Porto- 
Fuori,  and  is  now  preserved  in  the  S.  Maria-in- 
Porto,  where  I  saw  it  in  1847.  It  is  probably  as 
old  as  the  sixth  or  seventh  century. 

In  St.  Mark's  at  Venice,  in  the  grand  old  basil- 
ica at  Torcello,  in  San  Donato  at  Murano,  at 
Monreale,  near  Palermo,  and  in  most  of  the  old 
churches  in  the  East  of  Europe,  we  find  similar 
figures,  either  Byzantine  in  origin,  or  in  imitation 
of  the  Byzantine  style. 

But  about  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
ind  contemporary  with  Cimabue,  we  find  tie  firs* 


LA    VE1.GINE   GLORIOSA.  lOl 

mdicatiou  of  a  depai-ture,  even  in  the  mosaics, 
from  the  lifeless,  formal  type  of  Byzantine  art. 
The  earliest  example  of  a  more  animated  treatment 
is,  perhaps,  the  figure  in  the  apsis  of  St.  John  Lat 
eran.  (Rome.)  In  the  centre  is  an  immense  cross, 
emblem  of  salvation ;  the  four  rivers  of  Paradise 
(the  four  Gospels)  flow  from  its  base;  and  the 
faithful,  figured  by  the  hart  and  the  sheep,  drink 
from  these  streams.  Below  the  cross  is  represented, 
of  a  small  size,  the  New  Jerusalem  guarded  by  an 
archangel.  On  the  right  stands  the  Virgin,  of 
colossal  dimensions.  She  places  one  hand  on 
the  head  of  a  diminutive  kneeling  figure.  Pope 
Nicholas  IV.,*  by  whom  the  mosaic  was  dedicated 
about  1290;  the  other  hand,  stretched  forth, 
■eems  to  recommend  the  votary  to  the  mercy  of 
Christ. 

Full-length  effigies  of  the  Virgin  seated  on  a 
throne,  or  glorified  as  queen  of  heiven,  or  queen 
of  angels,  without  her  divine  Infant  in  her  arms, 
Are  exceedingly  rare  in  every  age ;  now  and  then 
to  De  met  vsdth  in  the  early  pictures  and  illumina- 
tions, but  never,  that  I  know  of,  in  the  later  schoola 
of  art.  A  signal  example  is  the  fine  enthroned 
Madonna  in  the  Campo  Santo,  who  receives  St. 
Kanieri  when  presented  by  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul 

On  the  Dalmatica  (or  Deacon's  robe)  preserved 
in  the  sacristy  of  St.  Peter's  at  Rome  (which 
Lord  Lindsay  well  describes  as  a  perfect  example 

*  For  a  minute  reduction  of  the  whole  composition ,  bw  Kug 
•r's  Handbook,  p.  113. 


L02  LEGENDS  pF    THE    MADONNA. 

* 

of  the  highest  style  of  Byzantine  art)  (Christian 
Art,  i.  136),  the  embroidery  on  the  front  represents 
Christ  in  a  golden  circle  or  glory,  robed  in  white, 
with  the  youthful  and  beardless  face,  his  eyes  look- 
ing into  yours.  He  sits  on  the  rainbow ;  his  left 
hand  holds  an  open  book,  inscribed,  "  Come,  ye 
blessed  of  my  Father  I "  while  the  right  is  raised  in 
benediction.  The  Virgin  stands  on  the  right  en- 
tirely witliin  the  glory ;  "  she  is  sweet  in  feature 
and  graceful  in  attitude,  in  her  long  white  robe.'* 
The  Baptist  stands  on  the  left  outside  the  glory. 

In  pictures  representing  the  glory  of  heaven, 
Paradise,  or  the  Last  Judgment,  we  have  this  idea 
constantly  repeated  —  of  the  Virgin  on  the  right 
hand  of  her  Son,  but  not  on  the  same  throne  with 
him,  unless  it  be  a  "  Coronation,"  which  is  a  subject 
apart. 

In  the  great  altar-piece  of  the  brothers  Van  Eyck, 
the  upper  part  contains  three  compartments;* 
in  the  centre  is  Christ,  wearing  the  triple  tiara,  and 
carrying  the  globe,  as  King,  as  Priest,  as  Judge  • 
on  each  side,  as  usual,  but  in  separate  compart- 
ments, the  Virgin  and  St.  John  the  Baptist.  The 
Virgin,  a  noble  queenly  figure,  full  of  serene  dig- 
nity and  grace,  is  seated  on  a  throne,  and  wears  a 
Buperb  crown,  formed  of  lilies,  roses,  and  gems, 
over  her  long  fair  hair.  She  is  reading  intently  in 
a  book  —  The  Book  of  Wisdom.     She  is  here  the 

*  It  is  well  known  tlyit  the  different  parts  of  this  great  work 
hftTe  been  dispersed.  The  three  compartments  mentioned  hen 
ire  at  Berlin. 


LA   VERGINE   GL0RI08A.  108 

Sponsa  Dei,  and  the  Virgo  Sapientissima,  the  most 
mse  Virgin.  This  is  the  only  example  I  can  rec- 
ollect of  the  Virgin  seated  on  the  right  hand  of 
her  Son  in  glory,  and  holding  a  book.  In  every 
Dther  instance  she  is  standing  or  seated  with  her 
nands  joined  or  crossed  over  her  bosom,  and  her 
eyes  turned  towards  him. 

Among  innumerable  examples,  I  will  cite  only 
one,  perhaps  the  most  celebrated  of  all,  and  famil- 
iar, it  may  be  presumed,  to  most  of  my  readers, 
though  perhaps  they  may  not  have  regarded  it  with 
reference  to  the  character  and  position  given  to 
the  Virgin.  It  is  one  of  the  four  great  frescoes  of 
the  Camera  della  Segnatura,  in  the  Vatican,  ex- 
hibiting the  four  highest  objects  of  mental  culture 
—  Theology,  Poetry,  Philosophy,  and  Jurispru- 
dence. In  the  first  of  these,  commonly,  but  er- 
roneously, called  La  Disputa  dell'  Sacramento^ 
Raphael  has  combined  into  one  great  scene  the 
whole  system  of  theology,  as  set  forth  by  the 
Catholic  Church ;  it  is  a  sort  of  concordance  be- 
tween heaven  and  earth  —  between  the  celestial 
and  terrestrial  witnesses  of  the  truth.  The  cen- 
tral group  above  shows  us  the  Redeemer  of  the 
world,  seated  with  extended  arms,  having  on  the 
light  the  Virgin  in  her  usual  place,  and  on  the  left, 
also  in  his  accustomed  place,  St.  John  the  Baptist ; 
both  seated,  and  nearly  on  a  level  with  Christ. 
The  Baptist  is  here  in  his  character  of  the  Pre- 
cursor "sent  to  bear  witness  to  the  light,  that 
Ihrough  him  all  men  might  believe."     (John  i.  7  ^ 


104  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MADONNA. 

The  Virgin  is  exhibited,  not  merely  as  the  Mother, 
ihe  Sposa,  the  Church,  but  as  Heavenly  Wis- 
dom, for  in  this  character  the  Catholic  Church  haa 
applied  to  her  the  magnificent  passage  in  Proverbs : 
"  The  Lord  possessed  me  in  the  beginning  of  Hia 
way,  before  His  works  of  old.  I  was  set  up  from 
everlasting,  from  the  beginning,  or  ever  the  earth 
was."  "  Then  I  was  by  Him  as  one  brought  up 
with  Him,  and  I  was  daily  His  delight,  rejoicing 
alway  before  Him."  (Prov.  viii.  12-36,  and  Ec-^ 
cles.   xxiv.  15,  16.) 

Nothing  can  be  more  beautiful  than  the  serene 
grace  and  the  mingled  majesty  and  humility  in  the 
figure  of  the  Virgin,  and  in  her  countenance,  as 
she  looks  up  adoring  to  the  Fountain  of  all  light, 
all  wisdom,  and  all  goodness.  Above  the  principal 
group,  is  the  emblematical  image  of  the  Father  ; 
below  is  the  holy  Dove,  in  the  act  of  descending  to 
the  earth.* 

The  Virgin  alone,  separate  from  her  Son,  stand- 
ing or  enthroned  before  us,  simply  as  the  Vergine 
Dea  or  Regina  Coeli,  is  rarely  met  with  in  modern 
art,  either  in  sculpture  or  painting.  I  will  give, 
however,  one  signal  example. 

In  an  altar-piece  painted  by  Cosimo  Rosselli,  for 
the  Serviti  at  Florence,  she  stands  alone,  and  in  a 
majestic  attitude,  on  a  raised  pedestal.     She  holds 

♦  For  a  detailed  description  of  this  fresco,  see  Passayant'f 
Raphael,  1.  140,  and  Eugler's  Handbook,  2d  edit.,  where  • 
minute  and  beautiful  reduction  of  the  whole  composition  wiF 
fire  an  idea  of  the  general  design. 


LA  VERGINE   GLORIOSA.  105 

i  book,  and  looks  upward,  to  the  Holy  Dove. 
hovering  over  her  head;  she  is  here  again  the 
Virgo  Sapientice.  (Fl.  Gal.)  On  one  side  is  St. 
John  the  Evangelist  and  St.  Antonino  of  Florence 
(see  Legends  of  the  Monastic  Orders)  ;  on  the 
other,  St.  Peter  and  St.  Philip  Benozzi ;  in  front 
kneel  St.  Margaret  and  St.  Catherine :  all  appear 
to  contemplate  with  rapturous  devotion  the  vision 
of  the  Madonna.  The  heads  and  attitudes  in  this 
picture  have  that  character  of  elegance  which  dis- 
tinguished the  Florentine  school  at  this  period, 
without  any  of  those  extravagances  and  pecuUari- 
ties  into  which  Piero  often  fell;  for  the  man  had 
evidently  a  touch  of  madness,  and  was  as  eccentric 
in  his  works  as  in  his  life  and  conversation.  The 
order  of  the  Serviti,  for  whom  he  painted  this  pic- 
ture, was  instituted  in  honour  of  the  Virgin,  and 
for  her  particular  service,  which  will  account  for 
the  unusual  treatment. 

The  numerous  —  often  most  beautiful  —  heads 
and  half-length  figures  which  represent  the  Virgin 
alone,  looking  up  with  a  devout  or  tender  expres- 
gion,  or  with  the  head  declined,  and  the  hands 
joined  in  prayer,  or  crossed  over  the  bosom  with 
virginal  humility  and  modesty,  belong  to  this  class 
of  representations.  In  the  ancient  heads,  most  of 
which  are  imitations  of  the  old  Greek  effigies 
ascribed  to  St.  Luke,  ther«  is  often  great  simplicity 
End  beauty.  When  she  wears  the  crown  over  her 
veil,  or  bears  a  sceptre  in  hei  hand,  she  figures  as 


i06  LEGENDS   OF    THE   MADONNA. 

the  queen  of  heaven  (Regina  Cceli).  When  sucfr 
effigies  are  attended  by  adoring  angels,  she  is  the 
queen  of  angels  (Regina  Angelorum).  When  she 
is  weeping  or  holding  the  crown  of  thorns,  she  is 
Our  Lady  of  Sorrow,  the  Mater  Dolorosa.  When 
she  is  merely  veiled,  with  folded  hands,  and  in  her 
features  all  the  beauty,  maiden  purity,  and  sweetr 
ness  which  the  artist  could  render,  she  is  simply 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  the  Madonna,  the  Santa  Maria 
^^ergine.  Such  heads  are  very  rare  in  the  earlier 
schools  of  art,  which  seldom  represented  the  Vir- 
gin without  her  Child,  but  became  favourite  studies 
of  the  later  painters,  and  were  multiplied  and 
varied  to  infinitude  from  the  beginning  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  From  these  every  trace  of 
the  mystical  and  solemn  conception  of  antiquity 
gradually  disappeared;  till,  for  the  majestic  ideal 
of  womanhood,  we  have  merely  inane  prettiness, 
or  rustic,  or  even  meretricious  grace,  the  borrowed 
charms  of  some  earthly  model. 

V  INCORONATA. 

rhe  Coronation  of  the  Virgin.  Lat.  Coronatio  BeatsB  Maria 
Virginis.  Ital.  Maria  coronata  dal  diyin  sue  Figlio.  Fr.  Le 
Couronneinent  de  la  Sainte  Yierge.     Ger.  Die  Eronung  Mari^ 

The  usual  type  of  the  Church  triumphant  is  the 
Coronation  of  the  Virgin  properly  so  called, 
Christ  in  the  act  of  crowning  his  Mother;  one  of 
ttie  most  popular,  significant,  and  beautiful  subject! 
ID  the  whole  range  of  mediaeval  art 


tJ  incoronata.  107 

When  in  a  series  of  subjects  from  the  life  of  the 
Virgin,  so  often  met  with  in  religious  prints  and  in 
the  Roman  Catholic  churches,  we  find  her  death 
and  her  assumption  followed  by  her  coronation; 
when  the  bier  or  sarcophagus  and  the  twelve  apo» 
ties  appear  below,  while  heaven  opens  upon  us 
above ;  then  the  representation  assumes  a  kind  of 
dramatic  character :  it  is  the  last  and  most  glorious 
event  of  her  history.  The  Mother,  dying  on  earth- 
is  received  into  glory  by  her  Son  who  had  gone 
before  her,  and  who  thus  celebrates  the  consum- 
mation of  his  victory  and  hers. 

But  when  the  scene  is  treated  apart  as  a  single 
subject ;  when,  instead  of  the  apostles  gazing  up  to 
heaven,  or  looking  with  amazement  into  the  tomb 
from  which  she  had  risen,  we  find  the  lower  part 
of  the  composition  occupied  by  votaries,  patron 
saints,  or  choral  angels ;  then  the  subject  must  be 
regarded  as  absolutely  devotional  and  typical.  It 
is  not  a  scene  or  an  action ;  it  is  a  great  mystery. 
It  is  consecrated  to  the  honour  of  the  Virgin  as  a 
type  of  the  spiritual  Church.  The  Espoused  is  re- 
ceived into  glory  and  crowned  with  the  crown  of 
everlasting  life,  exalted  above  angels,  spirits,  and 
men.  In  this  sense  we  must  understand  the  sub- 
ject when  we  find  it  in  ecclesiastical  sculpture, 
over  the  doors  of  places  of  worship,  in  the  decora- 
tive carving  of  church  utensils,  in  stained  glass. 
In  many  of  the  Italian  churches  there  is  a  chapel 
especially  dedicated  to  the  Virgin  in  this  character, 
ailed  la   Capella  dell*  Incoronata:   and  both  in 


108       LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

Germany  and  Italy  it  is  a  frequent  subject  as  an 
altar-piece. 

In  all  the  most  ancient  examples,  it  is  Christ 
only  who  places  the  crown  on  the  head  of  his 
•Mother,  seated  on  the  same  throne  and  placed 
at  his  right  hand.  Sometimes  we  have  the  two 
figures  only;  sometimes  the  Padre  Eterno  looka 
down,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  form  of  the  dove 
hovers  above  or  between  them.  In  some  later  ex- 
amples the  Virgin  is  seated  between  the  Father 
and  the  Son,  both  in  human  form :  they  place  the 
crown  on  her  head  each  holding  it  with  one  hand, 
the  Holy  Spirit  hovering  above.  In  other  repre- 
sentations the  Virgin  kneels  at  the  feet  of  Christ, 
and  he  places  the  crown  on  her  head,  while  two  or 
more  rejoicing  and  adoring  angels  make  heavenly 
music,  or  all  Paradise  opens  to  the  view;  and 
there  are  examples  where  not  only  the  choir  of 
attendant  angels,  but  a  vast  assembly  of  patriarchs, 
saints,  martyrs,  fathers  of  the  Church  —  the  whole 
company  of  the  blessed  spirits  —  assist  at  this  great 
ceremony. 

1  will  now  give  some  celebrated  examples  of  the 
various  styles  of  treatment. 

There  is  a  group  in  mosaic,  which  I  believe  to 
be  singular  in  its  kind,  where  the  Virgin  is  en- 
throned with  Christ.  She  is  seated  at  his  right 
hand,  at  the  same  elevation,  and  altogether  as  hia 
equal.  His  right  arm  embraces  her,  and  his  hand 
rests  on  her  shoulder.  She  wears  a  gorgeous 
erown,  which  her  Son  has  placed  on  her  brow 


l'  incoronata.  109 

Christ  has  9nly  the  cruciform  nimbus;  in  his  left 
hand  is  an  open  book,  on  which  is  inscribed, 
'*  Veni,  Electa  mea"  &c.  "  Come,  my  chosen  one, 
and  I  will  place  thee  upon  my  throne."  The  Vir- 
gin holds  a  tablet,  on  which  are  the  words  "  His 
right  hand  should  be  under  my  head,  and  his  left 
hand  should  embrace  me."  (Cant.  viii.  3.)  Tho 
omnipotent  Hand  is  stretched  forth  in  benediction 
above.  Here  the  Virgin  is  the  type  of  the  Church 
^a-iumphant  and  glorified,  having  overcome  the 
«rorld ;  and  the  solemn  significance  of  the  whole 
representation  is  to  be  found  in  the  Book  of  Rev- 
elations :  "  To  him  that  overcometh  will  I  grant 
to  sit  with  me  in  my  throne,  even  as  I  also  over- 
came and  am  set  down  with  my  Father  in  hia 
throne."     (Rev.  iii.  21.) 

This  mosaic,  in  which,  be  it  observed,  the  Vir- 
gin is  enthroned  with  Christ,  and  emhracedy  not 
crowned,  by  him,  is,  I  believe,  unique  either  as  a 
picture  or  a  church  decoration.  It  is  not  older 
than  the  twelfth  century,  is  very  ill  executed,  but 
is  curious  from  the  peculiarity  of  the  treatment 
(Rome.     S.  Maria  in  Trastevere.) 


In  the  mosaic  in  the  tribune  of  S.  Maria-li 
giore  at  Rome,  perhaps  the  earliest  example  ex- 
tant of  the  Coronation,  properly  so  called,  the 
subject  is  treated  with  a  grand  and  solemn  sim- 
plicity. Christ  and  the  Virgin,  colossal  figures, 
are  seated  on  the  same  regal  throne  within  a  circu- 
lar glory.  The  background  is  blue  studded  witb 
8 


tlO  LEGENDS   OF    THE   MADONNA. 

golden  stars.  He  places  the  crown  on  hor  head 
with  his  right  hand ;  in  the  left  he  holds  an  open 
book,  with  the  usual  text,  "Fen/,  Electa  mea^  ei 
ponam  te  in  thronum  meum"  &c.  She  benda 
slightly  forward,  and  her  hands  are  lifted  in  ado- 
ration. Above  and  around  the  circular  glory  the 
emblematical  vine  twines  in  arabesque  form 
among  the  branches  and  leaves  sit  peacocks ^and 
other  birds ;  the  peacock  being  the  old  emblem  of 
immortality,  as  birds  in  general  are  emblems  of 
spirituality.  On  each  side  of  the  glory  are  nine 
adoring  angels,  representing  the  nine  choirs  of  the 
heavenly  hierarchy ;  beyond  these  on  the  right 
stand  St.  Peter,  St.  Paul,  St.  Francis ;  on  the  left, 
St.  John  the  Baptist,  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  and 
St.  Antony  of  Padua ;  all  these  figures  being  very 
small  in  proportion  to  those  of  Christ  and  the  Vir- 
gin. Smaller  still,  and  quite  diminutive  in  com- 
parison, are  the  kneeling  figures  of  Pope  Nicholas 
IV.  and  Cardinal  Giacomo  Colonna,  under  whose 
auspices  the  mosaic  was  executed  by  Jacopo  della 
Turrita,  a  Franciscan  friar,  about  1288.  In  front 
flows  the  river  Jordan,  symbol  of  baptism  and  re- 
generation; on  its  shore  stands  the  hart,  the  em- 
blem of  religious  aspiration.  TJnderneath  the  cen^ 
fcpal  group  is  the  inscription,  — 

Maria  Ymao  assumpta  ad  etherium  Thalamum 
In  quo  Rex  Begum  stellato  sedet  solio. 

The  whole  of  this  vast  and  poetical  composition  if 
admirably  executed,  and  it  is  the  more  curious  ai 


L   INCORNATA.  Ill 

hiiingy  perhaps,  one  of  the  earliest  examples  of  the 
glorification  of  St.  Francis  and  St.  Antony  of  Pad- 
ua (Monastic  Orders),  who  were  canonized  about 
thirty  or  forty  years  before. 

The  mosaic,  by  Gaddo  Gaddi  (Florence,  A.I>. 
1330),  over  the  great  door  in  the  cathedral  at  Flor- 
ence, is  somewhat  diiferent.  Christ,  while  placing 
the  crown  on  the  head  of  his  Mother  with  his  left 
hand,  blesses  her  with  his  right  hand,  and  he  appears 
to  have  laid  aside  his  own  crown,  which  lies  near 
him.     The  attitude  of  the  Virgin  is  also  peculiar.* 

In  a  small  altar-piece  by  Giotto  (Florence,  S. 
Croce),  Christ  and  the  Virgin  are  seated  together 
on  a  throne.  He  places  the  jewelled  crown  on  her 
head  with  both  hands,  while  she  bends  forward  with 
her  hands  crossed  in  her  lap,  and  the  softest  ex- 
pression in  her  beautiful  face,  as  if  she  as  meekly 
resigned  herself  to  this  honour,  as  heretofore  to  the 
angelic  salutation  which  pronounced  her  "Blessed:** 
angels  kneel  before  the  throne  with  censers  and 
offerings.  In  another,  by  Giotto,  Christ  wearing  a 
coronet  of  gems  is  seated  on  a  throne :  the  Virgin 
kneels  before  him  with  hands  joined:  twenty  an- 
gels with  musical  instruments  attend  around.  In  a 
"Coronation,"  by  Piero  Laurati,  the  figures  of 
Christ  and  the  Virgin,  seated  together,  resemble  in 
sentiment  and  expression  those  of  Giotto.     The 

♦  In  the  same  cathedral  (which  is  dedicated  to  the  Virgin 
Mary)  the  circular  window  of  the  choir  opposite  to  the  moeaif 
exhibits  the  Coronation.  The  design,  by  Donatello,  is  eminent 
\f  fine  and  classical. 


112  LEGENDS   OF    THE    MADONNA. 

angels  are  arranged  in  a  glory  around,  and  the 
treatment  is  wholly  typical. 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  and  celebrated  of  the 
pictures  of  Angelico  da  Fiesole  is  the  "  Coronation** 
now  in  the  Louvre  ;  formerly  it  stood  over  the  high 
altar  of  the  Church  of  St.  Dominick  at  Fiesole, 
where  Angelico  had  been  nurtured,  and  made  hi? 
profession  as  monk.  The  composition  is  conceived 
as  a  grand  regal  ceremony,  but  the  beings  who 
figure  in  it  are  touched  with  a  truly  celestial  grace. 
The  Redeemer,  crowned  himself,  and  wearing  the 
ermine  mantle  of  an  earthly  monarch,  is  seated  on 
a  magnificent  throne,  under  a  Gothic  canopy,  to 
which  there  is  an  ascent  of  nine  steps.  He  holds 
the  crown,  which  he  is  in  the  act  of  placing,  with 
both  hands,  on  the  head  of  the  Virgin,  who  kneels 
before  him,  with  features  of  the  softest  and  most 
delicate  beauty,  and  an  expression  of  divine  hu- 
mility. Her  face,  seen  in  profile,  is  partly  shaded 
by  a  long  transparent  veil,  flowing  over  her  ample 
robe  of  a  delicate  crimson,  beneath  which  is  a  blue 
tunic.  On  each  side  a  choir  of  lovely  angels, 
clothed  from  head  to  foot  in  spangled  tunics  of 
ftzure  and  rose-colour,  with  shining  wings,  make 
celestial  music,  while  they  gaze  with  looks  of  joy 
and  adoration  towards  the  principal  group.  Lower 
down  on  the  right  of  the  throne  are  eighteen,  and 
on  the  left  twenty-two,  of  the  principal  patriarchs, 
apostles,  saints,  and  martyrs  •  among  whom  the 
worthies  of  Angelico*s  own  community,  St  Domi- 
nick  and  St  Peter  Martyr,  are  of  course  conspicu 


l'  incoronata.  lis 

ous.  At  the  foot  of  the  throne  kneel  on  one  side 
St  Augustine,  St.  Benedict,  St.  Charlemagne,  the 
royal  saint ;  St.  Nicholas ;  and  St.  Thomas  Aquinas 
holding  a  pen  (the  great  literary  saint  of  the  Do 
minican  order,  and  author  of  the  Office  of  the  Vir- 
gin) ;  on  the  left  we  have  a  group  of  virgins,  St. 
Agnes,  St.  Catherine  with  her  wheel,  St.  Catherine 
of  Siena,  her  habit  spangled  with  stars ;  St.  Cecili'i 
crowned  with  her  roses,  and  Mary  Magdalene,  w,ch 
her  long  golden  hair.*  Beneath  this  great  coi  ^po- 
eition  runs  a  border  or  predella,  in  seven  cottipart- 
ments,  containing  in  the  centre  a  Pietk,  and  on 
each  side  three  small  subjects  from  the  history  of 
St.  Domlnick,  to  whom  the  church,  whence  it  was 
taken,  is  dedicated.  The  spiritual  beauty  of  the 
heads,  the  delicate  tints  of  the  colouring,  an  ineffa- 
ble charm  of  mingled  brightness  and  repose  shed 
over  the  whole,  give  to  this  lovely  picture  an  effect 
like  that  of  a  church  hymn,  sung  at  some  high  fes- 
tival by  voices  tuned  in  harmony  —  "  blest  voices, 
uttering  joy ! " 

In  strong  contrast  with  the  graceful  Italian  concep- 
tion, is  the  German  "  Coronation,'*  now  in  the  Wal- 
lerstein  collection.  (Kensington  Pal.)  It  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  painted  for  Philip  the  Good, 
Duke  of  Burgundy,  either  by  Hans  Hemling,  oi 
a  painter  not  inferior  to  him.  Here  the  Virgin  is 
crowned  by  the  Trinity.  She  kneels,  with  an  air 
>f  majestic  humility,  and  hands  meekly  folded  on 

*  See  "  Legends  of  the  Monastic  Orders,"  and  "  Sacred  and 
Ugendary  Art,"  for  an  account  of  all  these  personages. 


114  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MAl>ONNA. 

her  bosom,  attired  in  simple  blue  drapery,  before  a 
semicircular  throne,  on  which  are  seated  the  Father 
and  the  Son,  between  them,  with  outspread  wings, 
touching  their  mouths,  the  Holy  Dove.  The  Father 
a  venerable  figure,  wears  the  triple  tiara,  and  holds 
the  sceptre ;  Christ,  with  an  expression  of  suffering, 
holds  in  his  left  hand  a  crystal  cross ;  and  they  sus- 
tain between  them  a  crown  which  they  are  about 
to  place  on  the  head  of  the  Virgin.  Their  golden 
throne  is  adorned  with  gems,  and  over  it  is  a  glory 
of  seraphim,  with  hair,  faces,  and  plumage,  all  of  a 
glowing  red.  The  lower  part  of  this  picture  and 
the  compartments  on  each  side  are  filled  with  a 
vast  assemblage  of  saints,  and  martyrs,  and  holy 
confessors;  conspicuous  among  them  we  find  the 
saints  most  popular  in  Flanders  and  Burgundy  — 
St.  Adrian,  St.  George,  St.  Sebastian,  St.  Maurice, 
clad  in  coats  of  mail  and  crowned  with  laurel,  with 
other  kingly  and  warhke  personages;  St.  Philip, 
the  patron  of  Philip  the  Good ;  St.  Andrew,  in 
whose  honour  he  instituted  the  order  of  the  Golden 
Fleece  :  and  a  figure  in  a  blue  mantle  with  a  ducal 
crown,  one  of  the  three  kings  of  Cologne,  is  sup- 
posed to  represent  Duke  Philip  himself.  It  is  im- 
possible by  any  description  to  do  justice  to  this 
wonderful  picture,  as  remarkable  for  its  elaborate 
workmanship,  the  mysticism  of  the  conception,  the 
quaint  elegance  of  the  details,  and  portrait-like  re- 
ality of  the  faces,  as  that  of  Angelico  for  its  spirit 
tal,  tender,  imaginative  grace. 
There  is  a  "Coronation**  by  VWarini    (Aca 


l'  incoronata.  lU 

Venice),  which  may  be  said  to  comprise  in  itself  a 
nrhole  system  of  theology.  It  is  one  vast  composi- 
don,  not  divided  by  compartments.  In  the  centre 
IS  a  magnificent  carved  throne  sustained  by  six 
pillars,  which  stand  on  a  lofty  richly  ornamented 
pedestal.  On  the  throne  are  seated  Christ  and  the 
Virgin ;  he  is  crowned,  and  places  with  both  hands 
A  crown  on  her  head.  Between  them  hovers  the 
celestial  Dove,  and  above  them  is  seen  the  Heavenly 
Father  in  likeness  of  "  the  Ancient  of  Days,"  who 
paternally  lays  a  hand  on  the  shoulder  of  each. 
Around  his  head  and  over  the  throne,  are  the  nine 
choirs  of  angels,  in  separate  groups.  First  and 
nearest,  hover  the  glowing  seraphim  and  cheru- 
bim, winged,  but  otherwise  formless.  Above  these, 
the  Thrones,  holding  the  globe  of  sovereignty ;  to 
the  right,  the  Dominations,  Virtues,  and  Powers; 
to  the  left,  the  Princedoms,  Archangels,  and  Angels. 
Below  these,  on  each  side  of  the  throne,  the  proph- 
ets and  patriarchs  of  the  Old  Testament,  holding 
each  a  scroll.  Below  these  the  apostles  on  twelve 
thrones,  six  on  each  side,  each  holding  the  Gospel. 
Below  these,  on  each  side,  the  saints  and  martyrs. 
Below  these,  again,  the  virgins  and  holy  women. 
Under  the  throne,  in  the  space  formed  by  the  pil- 
lars, is  seen  a  group  of  beautiful  children  (not  an- 
gels), xepresenting,  I  think,  the  martyred  Inno- 
cents. They  bear  the  instruments  of  Christ's 
passion  —  the  cross,  nails,  spear,  crown  of  thorns, 
&c.  On  the  step  below  the  pedestal,  and  immedi- 
fctely  in  front,  are  seated  the  Evangelists  and  doc 


116  LEGENDS    OF    THE   MADONNA. 

tors  of  the  Church ;  on  the  right  St.  Matthew  and 
St.  Luke,  and  behind  them  St.  Ambrose  and  St. 
Augustine ;  on  the  left  St.  Mark  and  St.  John,  and 
behind  them  St.  Jerome  and  St.  Gregory.  (See 
"  Sacred  and  Legendary  Art.")  Every  part  of  this 
curious  picture  is  painted  with  the  utmost  care 
and  delicacy :  the  children  are  exquisite,  and  the 
heads,  of  which  there  are  at  least  seventy  without 
counting  the  angels,  are  finished  like  miniatures. 

This  simple,  and  altogether  typical  representation 
of  the  Virgin  crowned  by  the  Trinity  in  human 
form,  is  in  a  French  carving  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, and  though  ill  drawn,  there  is  considerable 
naivete  in  the  treatment.  The  Eternal  Father 
wears,  as  is  usual,  the  triple  tiara,  the  Son  has  the 
cross  and  the  crown  of  thorns,  and  the  Holy  Ghost 
is  distinguished  by  the  dove  on  his  hand.  All  three 
Bustain  the  crown  over  the  head  of  the  kneeling 
Virgin,  whose  train  is  supported  by  two  angels. 

In  a  bas-relief  over  a  door  of  the  cathedral  at 
Treves,  the  subject  is  very  simply  treated ;  both 
Christ  and  the  Virgin  are  standing,  which  is  un- 
usual, and  behind  each  is  an  angel,  also  standing 
and  holding  a  crown. 

Where  not  more  than  five  or  six  saints  are  intro- 
duced as  attendants  and  accessories,  they  are  usually 
the  patron  saints  of  the  locality  or  community, 
which  may  be  readily  distinguished.     Thus, 

1.  In  a  "  Coronation"  by  Sandro  Botticelli,  we 
find  below,  St  John  the  Evangelist,  St.  Augustine. 
St.  John  Gualberto,  St.  Bernardo  Cardinale.     li 


L    INCORONATA.  117 

was  painted  for  the  Vallombrosian  monks.     (FL 
Gal.) 

2.  In  a  very  fine  example  by  Ghirlandajo,  St 
Dominick  and  St.  Peter  Martyr  are  conspicuous : 
painted,  of  course,  for  the  Dominicans.  (Paris, 
Louvre.) 

3.  In  another,  by  Pinturicchio,  St.  Francis  is  a 
principal  figure,  with  St.  Bouaventura  and  St. 
Louis  of  Toulouse;  painted  for  the  Franciscans, 
or  at  least  for  a  Franciscan  pope,  Sixtus  IV. 
(Rome,  Vatican.) 

4.  In  another,  by  Guido,  the  treatment  differs 
from  the  early  style.  The  coronation  above  is  small 
and  seen  as  a  vision  ;  the  saints  below,  St.  Bernard 
and  St.  Catherine,  are  life-size.  It  was  painted  for 
a  community  of  Bemardines,  the  monks  of  Monte 
Oliveto.     (Bologna,  Gal.) 

5.  In  a  beautiful  little  altar-piece  by  Lorenzo  di 
Credi,*  the  Virgin  is  kneeling  above,  while  Christ, 
seated,  places  the  crown  on  her  head,  A  glory  of  red 
seraphim  surround  the  two  figures.  Below  are  the 
famous  patron  saints  of  Central  Italy,  St.  Nicholas 
of  Bari  and  St.  Julian  of  Rimini,  St.  Barbara  and 
St.  Christina.  The  St.  Francis  and  St.  Antony, 
m  the  predella,  show  it  to  have  been  painted  for  a 
Franciscan  church  or  chapel,  probably  for  the  same 
church  at  Cestello  for  which  Lorenzo  painted  the 
St.  Julian  and  St.  Nicholas  now  in  the  Louvre. 

The  "  Coronation  of  the  Virgm  "  by  Annibalf 

♦  Once  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Rogers ;  «.  "  Sacred  and  Lt 
fendary  Art." 


118  LEGENDS    OF    THE   MADONNA. 

Carracci  is  in  a  spirit  altogether  different,  magnifi- 
ijently  studied.*  On  high,  upon  a  lofty  throne 
which  extends  across  the  whole  picture  from  side 
to  side,  the  Virgin,  a  noble  majestic  creature,  in 
the  true  Carracci  style,  is  seated  in  the  midst  as 
the  principal  figure,  her  hands  folded  on  her  bosom. 
On  the  right  hand  sits  the  Father,  on  the  left  the 
Son ;  they  hold  a  heavenly  crown  surmounted  by 
stars  above  her  head.  The  locality  is  the  EmpjTe- 
um.  The  audience  consists  of  angels  only,  who, 
circle  within  circle,  filling  the  whole  space,  and 
melting  into  an  abyss  of  light,  chant  hymns  of  re- 
joicing and  touch  celestial  instruments  of  music. 
This  picture  shows  how  deeply  Annibale  Carracci 
had  studied  Correggio,  in  the  magical  chiaro-oscuro, 
and  the  lofty  but  somewhat  mannered  grace  of  the 
figures. 

One  of  the  latest  examples  I  can  point  to  is  also 
one  of  the  most  simple  and  grand  in  conception. 
(Madrid  Gal.)  It  is  that  by  Velasquez,  the  finest 
perhaps  of  the  very  few  devotional  subjects  painted 
by  him.  We  have  here  the  three  figures  only,  as 
large  as  life,  filling  the  region  of  glory,  without 
angels,  witnesses,  or  accessories  of  any  kind,  ex- 
cept the  small  cherubim  beneath ;  and  the  sypamet- 
rical  treatment  gives  to  the  whole  a  sort  of  sublime 
effect  But  the  heads  have  the  air  of  portraits : 
Christ  has  a  dark,  earnest,  altogether  Spanish 
physiognomy;  the  Virgin  has  dark  hair;  and  the 
Padre  Eterno,  with  a  long  beard,  has  a  bald  head 
This  was  also  in  the  collection  of  M?   "'oc^rs. 


L    mCORONATA.  119 

—  a  gross  faalt  in  taste  and  propriety;  because > 
though  the  loose  beard  and  flowing  white  hair  may 
lerve  to  typify  the  "Ancient  of  Days,"  baldness 
expresses  not  merely  age,  but  the  infirmity  of  age. 
Rubens,  also,  painted  a  "  Coronation  "  with  all 
his  own  lavish  magnificence  of  style  for  the  Jesuits 
at  Brussels.  After  the  time  of  Velasquez  and 
Rubens,  the  "  Immaculate  Conception  "  superseded 
the  "Coronation.*' 

To  enter  further  into  the  endless  variations  of 
this  charming  and  complex  subject  would  lead  U8 
through  all  the  schools  of  art  from  Giotto  to  Guido. 
I  have  said  enough  to  render  it  intelligible  and  in- 
teresting, and  must  content  myself  with  one  or  two 
closing  memoranda. 

1.  The  dress  of  the  Virgin  in  a  "  Coronation  "  is 
generally  splendid,  too  like  the  coronation  robes  of 
an  earthly  queen,  —  it  is  a  "  raiment  of  needle- 
work," —  "a  vesture  of  gold  wrought  about  with 
divers  colours  "  —  generally  blue,  crimson,  and 
white,  adorned  with  gold,  gems,  and  even  ermine. 
In  the  "  Coronation"  by  Filippo  Lippi,  at  Spoleto, 
she  wears  a  white  robe  embroidered  with  golden 
Buns,  In  a  beautiful  little  "  Coronation  "  in  the 
Wallerstein  collection  (Kensington  Pal.)  she  wears 
a  white  robe  embroidered  with  suns  and  moons,  the 
former  red  with  golden  rays,  the  latter  blue  with 
coloured  rays,  —  perhaps  in  allusion  to  the  text  so 
often  applied  in  reference  to  her,  "  a  woman  clothe<? 
irith  the  5Mn,"  &c.     (Rev.  xii.  1,  or  Cant  vi.  10.) 


120  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MADONNA^. 

2.  In  the  set  of  cartoons  for  the  tapestries  of  thf 
Sistine  Chapel  (Kugler's  Handbook,  il.  394),  a 
originally  prepared  by  Raphael,  we  have  the  foun- 
dation, the  heaven-bestowed  powers,  the  trials  and 
Bufferings  of  the  early  Church,  exhibited  in  the 
calling  of  St.  Peter,  the  conversion  of  St.  Paul,  the 
acts  and  miracles  of  the  apostles,  the  martyrdom  of 
St.  Stephen ;  and  the  series  closed  with  the  Coro- 
nation of  the  Virgin,  placed  over  the  altar,  as  typi* 
cal  of  the  final  triumph  of  the  Church,  the  comple- 
tion and  fulfilment  of  all  the  promises  made  to  man, 
set  forth  in  the  exaltation  and  union  of  the  mortal 
with  the  immortal,  when  the  human  Mother  and 
her  divine  Son  are  reunited  and  seated  on  the 
same  throne.  Raphael  placed  on  one  side  of  the 
celestial  group,  St.  John  the  Baptist,  representing 
sanctification  through  the  rite  of  baptism;  and 
on  the  other,  St.  Jerome,  the  general  symbol  of 
sanctification  through  faith  and  repentance.  The 
cartoon  of  this  grand  symbolical  composition,  in 
which  all  the  figures  were  colossal,  is  unhappily  lost ; 
the  tapestry  is  missing  from  the  Vatican  collection  ; 
two  old  engravings,  however,  exist,  from  which 
some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  original  group. 
(Passavant's  Rafael,  ii.  258.) 

3.  It  will  be  interesting  to  remember  that  the 
earliest  existing  impression  taken  from  an  engraved 
metal  plate,  is  a  "  Coronation  of  the  Virgin. 
Maso  Finiguerra,  a  skilful  goldsmith  and  worker  in 
(liello,  living  at  Florence  in  1434,  was  employed  to 
execute  a  pix  (the  small  casket  in  which  the  coii> 


L*  INCOBONATA.  121 

lecrated  wafer  of  the  sacrament  is  deposited),  and 
he  decorated  it  with  a  representation  of  the  Coro- 
nation in  presence  of  saints  and  angels,  in  all  about 
thirty  figures,  minutely  and  exquisitely  engraved  on 
the  silver  face.  Whether  Finiguerra  was  the  first 
worker  in  niello  to  whom  it  occurred  to  fill  up  the 
lines  cut  in  the  silver  with  a  black  fluid,  and  then  by 
laying  on  it  a  piece  of  damp  paper,  and  forcibly 
rubbing  it,  take  off  the  fac-simile  of  his  design  and 
try  its  effect  before  the  final  process,  —  this  we  can 
not  ascertain;  we  only  know  that  the  impression 
of  his  "  Coronation  "  is  the  earliest  specimen  known 
to  exist,  and  gave  rise  to  the  practice  of  cutting 
designs  on  plates  of  copper  (instead  of  silver),  for 
the  purpose  of  multiplying  impressions  of  them. 
The  pix  finished  by  Maso  in  1452  is  now  in  the  Flor 
cnce  Gallery  in  the  "  Salle  des  Bronzes."  The  in- 
valuable print,  first  of  its  species,  exists  in  the 
National  Library  at  Paris.  There  is  a  very  exact 
fac-simile  of  it  in  Otley's  "  History  of  Engraving," 
Christ  and  the  Virgin  are  here  seated  together  on 
a  lofty  architectural  throne  :  her  hands  are  crossed 
on  her  bosom,  and  she  bends  her  meek  veiled  head 
to  receive  the  crown,  which  her  Son,  who  wears  a 
triple  tiara,  places  on  her  brow.  The  saints  most 
conspicuous  are  St.  John  the  Baptist,  patron  of 
Florence  and  of  the  church  for  which  the  pix  was 
executed,  and  a  female  saint,  I  believe  St.  Repara- 
la,  both  standing ;  kneeling  in  front  are  St.  Cosmo 
ind  St.  Damian,  the  patrons  of  the  Medici  family, 


122  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MADOXNA. 

Ihen  paramount  at  Florence.     (Sacred  and  Legen 
dary  Art.) 

4.  In  an  illuminated  "  Office  of  the  Virgin,"  1 
found  a  version  of  this  subject  which  must  be  rare, 
and  probably  confined  to  miniatures.  Christ  is  seat- 
ed on  a  throne  and  the  Virgin  kneels  before  him 
he  bends  forwards,  and  tenderly  takes  her  clasped 
hands  in  both  his  own.  An  empty  throne  is  at  the 
right  hand  of  Christ,  over  which  hovers  an  angel 
bearing  a  crown.  This  is  the  moment  which  pre- 
cedes the  Coronation,  as  the  group  already  described 
in  the  S.  Maria-in-Trastevere  exhibits  the  moment 
which  follows  the  Coronation. 

5.  Finally,  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  those  e^ 
figies  in  which  the  Madonna  is  holding  her  Child, 
while  angels  place  a  crown  upon  her  head,  do  not 
represent  the  coronation  properly  so  called, 
but  merely  the  Virgin  honoured  as  Mother  of 
Christ  and  Queen  of  Heaven  (Mater  Christie  Re-* 
gina  Coeli)  ;  and  that  those  representations  of  the 
Coronation  which  conclude  a  series  of  the  life  of 
the  Virgin,  and  surmount  her  death-bed  or  her 
tomb,  are  historical  and  dramatic  rather  than  devo- 
tional and  typical.  Of  this  historical  treatment 
there  are  beautiful  examples  from  Cimabue  down 
to  Raphael,  which  will  be  noticed  hereafter  in  theil 
proper  place. 


THE   VIRGIN   OF    MERCY.  123 


THE  VIRGIN  OF  MERCY. 

CKir  Lady  of  Succour.  Ital.  La  Madonna  di  Misericordift.  IV 
Ndtre  Dame  de  Mis6ricorde.  Ger.  Maria  Mutter  des  Erbar* 
mens.    Sp.  Nuestra  SeSora  de  Qrazia. 

When  once  the  Virgin  had  been  exalted  and 
glorified  in  the  celestial  paradise,  the  next  and  the 
most  natural  result  was,  that  she  should  be  re- 
garded as  being  in  heaven  the  most  powerful  of  in- 
tercessors, and  on  earth  a  most  benign  and  ever- 
present  protectress.  In  the  mediaeval  idea  of 
Christ,  there  was  often  something  stern  ;  the  Lamb 
of  God  who  died  for  the  sins  of  the  world,  is  also 
the  inexorable  Judge  of  the  quick  and  the  dead. 
When  he  shows  his  wounds,  it  is  as  if  a  vindictive 
feeling  was  supposed  to  exist ;  as  if  he  were  called 
upon  to  remember  in  judgment  the  agonies  and  the 
degradation  to  which  he  had  been  exposed  below 
for  the  sake  of  wicked  ungrateful  men.  In  a  Greek 
"  Day  of  Judgment,"  cited  by  Didron,  Moses  holds 
up  a  scroll,  on  which  is  written,  "Behold  Him 
whom  ye  crucified,"  while  the  Jews  are  dragged  in- 
to everlasting  fire  Everywhere  is  the  sentiment 
of  vengeance ;  Christ  himself  is  less  a  judge  than 
an  avenger.  Not  so  the  Virgin  ;  she  is  represented 
as  all  mercy,  sympathy,  and  benignity.  In  some  of 
the  old  pictures  of  the  Day  of  Judgment,  she  is 
seated  by  the  side  of  Christ,  on  an  equality  with 
Uim,  and  often  in  an  attitade  (f  deprecation,  as  if 


1 24      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

adjuring  him  to  relent ;  or  her  eyes  are  turned  on 
the  redeemed  souls,  and  she  looks  away  from  the 
condemned  as  if  unable  to  endure  the  sight  of 
their  doom.  In  other  pictures  she  is  lower  than 
Christ,  but  always  on  his  right  hand,  and  generally 
seated ;  while  St.  John  the  Baptist,  who  is  usually 
placed  opposite  to  her  on  the  left  of  Christ,  invari- 
ably standi  or  kneels.  Instead  of  the  Baptist,  it  ia 
Bometimes,  but  rarely,  John  the  Evangelist,  who  is 
the  pendant  of  the  Virgin. 

In  the  Greek  representations  of  the  Last  Judg» 
ment,  a  river  of  fire  flows  from  under  the  throne  of 
Christ  to  devour  and  burn  up  the  wicked.*  In 
western  art  the  idea  is  less  formidable,  —  Christ  is 
not  at  once  judge  and  executioner ;  but  the  senti- 
ment is  always  sufficiently  terrible ;  "  the  angels  and 
all  the  powers  of  heaven  tremble  before  him."  In 
the  midst  of  these  terrors,  the  Virgin,  whether 
kneeling,  or  seated,  or  standing,  always  appears  as 
a  gentle  mediator,  a  supplicant  for  mercy.  In  the 
"  Day  of  Judgment,"  as  represented  in  the  "  Hor- 
tus  Deliciarum,"  f  we  read  inscribed  under  her  fig-  ' 
ore  the  words  "  Maria  Filio  suo  pro  Ecclesia  sup* 
plicat."  In  a  very  fine  picture  by  Martin  Schoen 
(Schleissheim  Gal.),  it  is  the  Father,  who,  with  a 
Bword  and  three  javelins  in  his  hand,  sits  as  the 

*  Didron,  "  Iconographie  Chr^tienne ;  "  and  in  fhe  mosido  •« 
the  Last  Judgment,  executed  bj  Byzantine  artists,  in  the  oathe* 
Aral  at  Torccllo. 

t  A  celebrated  illuminated  MS.  (date  about  1159  to  1176),  pr» 
Mrred  in  the  Library  at  Strasburg. 


THE    VIRGIN    OF    MERCY.  125 

avenging  judge ;  near  him  Christ ;  while  the  Vir- 
gin stands  in  the  foreground,  looking  up  to  her 
Son  with  an  expression  of  tender  supplication,  and 
mterceding,  as  it  appears,  for  the  sinners  kneeling 
found  her,  and  whose  imploring  looks  are  directed 
Jo  her.  In  the  well-known  fresco  by  Andrea  Or- 
^agna  (Pisa,  Campo  Santo),  Christ  and  the  Vir- 
gin sit  throned  above,  each  in  a  separate  aureole, 
but  equally  glorified.  Christ,  pointing  with  one 
hand  to  the  wound  in  his  side,  raises  the  other  in  a 
threatening  attitude,  and  his  attention  is  directed  to 
the  wicked,  whom  he  hurls  into  perdition.  The 
Virgin,  with  one  hand  pressed  to  her  bosom,  looks 
to  him  with  an  air  of  supplication.  Both  figures  are 
regally  attired,  and  wear  radiant  crowns ;  and  the 
twelve  apostles  attend  them,  seated  on  each  side. 

In  the  centre  group  of  Michael  Angelo's  "  Last 
Judgment,"  we  have  the  same  leading  motif,  but 
treated  in  a  very  different  feeling.  Christ  stands 
before  us  in  figure  and  mien  like  a  half-naked  ath- 
lete ;  his  left  hand  rejects,  his  right  hand  threatens, 
and  his  whole  attitude  is  as  utterly  devoid  of  dignity 
as  of  grace.  I  have  often  wondered  as  I  have 
looked  at  this  grand  and  celebrated  work,  what 
could  be  Michael  Angelo's  idea  of  Christ.  He  who 
was  so  good,  so  religious,  so  pure-minded,  and  so 
high-minded,  was  deficient  in  humility  and  sym- 
pathy ;  if  his  morals  escaped,  his  imagination  was 
corrupted  by  the  profane  and  pagan  influences  of 
\us  time.  His  conception  of  Christ  is  here  most 
9 


126  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MADONNA. 

unchristian,  and  his  conception  of  the  Virgin  is  not 
much  better.  She  is  grand  in  form,  but  the  ex- 
pression is  too  passive.  She  looks  down  and  seems 
to  shrink ;  but  the  significance  of  the  attitude,  — 
the  hand  pressed  to  the  maternal  bosom,  -  -  given 
to  her  by  the  old  painters,  is  lost. 

In  a  "  Last  Judgment "  by  Rubens,  painted  for 
the  Jesuits  of  Brussels  (Brussels ;  Musde),  the 
Virgin  extends  her  robe  over  the  world,  as  if  to 
shield  mankind  from  the  wrath  of  her  Son  ;  point- 
ing, at  the  same  time,  significantly  to  her  bosom, 
whence  He  derived  his  earthly  life.  The  daring 
bad  taste,  and  the  dramatic  power  of  this  represen- 
tation, are  characteristic  alike  of  the  painter,  the 
time,  and  the  community  for  which  the  picture  was 
painted. 


More  beautiful  and  more  acceptable  to  our  feel- 
ings are  those  graceful  representations  of  the  Virgin 
as  dispenser  of  mercy  on  earth ;  as  protectress  and 
patroness  either  of  all  Christendom,  or  of  some  par- 
ticular locality,  country,  or  community.  In  such  pic- 
tures she  stands  with  outstretched  arms,  crowned 
with  a  diadem,  or  in  some  instances  simply  veiled  , 
her  ample  robe,  extended  on  each  side,  is  held  up  by 
angels,  while  under  its  protecting  folds  are  gathered 
worshippers  and  votaries  of  all  ranks  and  ages  — • 
men,  women,  children,  —  kings,  nobles,  ecclesias- 
tics, —  the  poor,  the  lame,  the  sick.  Oi  if  the  pic- 
lure  bo  less  universal  in  its  significance,  dedicated 


THE   VIRGIN   OF    MERCY.  127 

perhaps  by  some  religious  order  or  charitable  broth 
erhood,  we  see  beneath  her  robe  an  assemblage  of 
monks  and  nuns,  or  a  troop  of  young  orphans  or 
redeemed  prisoners.  Such  a  representation  is  styled 
a  Misericordia, 

In  a  picture  by  Fra  Filippo  Lippi  (Berlin  Gal.), 
the  Madonna  of  Mercy  extends  her  protecting 
mantle  over  thirty-five  kneeling  figures,  the  facea 
like  portraits,  none  elevated  or  beautiful,  but  the 
whole  picture  as  an  example  of  the  subject  most 
striking. 

A  very  beautiful  and  singular  representation  of 
the  Virgin  of  Mercy  without  the  Child,  I  found  in 
the  collection  of  Herr  v.  Quandt,  of  Dresden.  She 
stands  with  hands  folded  over  her  bosom,  and 
wrapped  in  ample  white  drapery,  without  ornament 
of  any  kind  ;  over  her  head,  a  veil  of  transparent 
gauze  of  a  brown  colour,  such  as,  from  various  por- 
traits of  the  time,  appears  to  have  been  then  a  fash- 
ion. The  expression  of  the  face  is  tender  and 
contemplative,  almost  sad;  and  the  whole  figure, 
which  is  life-size,  is  inexpressibly  refined  and  digni- 
fied. The  following  inscription  is  on  the  dark  back- 
ground  to  the  right  of  the  Virgin  :  — 
Imago 
Beat^  Mari^  Virginis 

QUiK 

Mens.  August.  Mioxxxm. 

Appakuit 

MiRACuiiOR.  Operationk 

CoNCURsu  Pop. 

CeIiEBERRIM. 


1 28  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MADONNA. 

This  beautiful  picture  was  brought  from  Brescia 
to  Vienna  by  a  picture-dealer,  and  purchased  by 
Herr  v.  Quandt.  It  was  painted  by  Moretto  of 
Brescia,  of  whom  Lanzi  truly  says  that  his  sacred 
subjects  express  la  compunzione,  la  piethy  la  ca- 
rita  istessa  ;  and  this  picture  is  an  instance.  But 
by  whom  dedicated,  for  what  especial  mercy,  or 
in  what  church,  I  could  not  ascertain.* 

It  is  seldom  that  the  Madonna  di  Misericordia 
appears  without  the  Child  in  her  arms  ;  her  mater- 
nity is  supposed  to  be  one  element  in  her  sympathy 
with  suffering  humanity.  I  will  add,  however,  to 
the  examples  already  given,  one  very  celebrated 
mstance. 

The  picture  entitled  the  "  Misericordia  di  Lucca  ** 
is  famous  in  the  history  of  art.  (Lucca.  S.  Ro- 
mano.) It  is  the  most  important  work  of  Fra  Bar- 
tolomeo,  and  is  dated  1515,  two  years  before  his 
death.  The  Virgin,  a  grand  and  beautiful  figure, 
stands  alone  on  a  raised  platform,  with  her  arms 
extended,  and  looking  up  to  heaven.  The  ample 
folds  of  her  robe  are  held  open  by  two  angels. 
Beneath  and  round  her  feet  are  various  groups  in 
attitudes  of  supplication,  who  look  up  to  her,  as 
she  looks  up  to  heaven.  On  one  side  the  donor  of 
the  picture  is  presented  by  St.  Dominick.     Above, 

*  I  possess  a  charming  drawing  of  the  head  by  Fraulein  Lou. 
be  Seidler  of  Weimar,  whose  feeling  for  early  religious  art  if 
ihcwn  in  her  own  works,  as  well  as  in  the  beautiftil  copies  shf 
tM  made  of  others. 


THE    VIRGIN    OF    MERCY.  129 

IB  a  glory,  is  the  figure  of  Christ  surrounded  by 
ungels,  and  seeming  to  bend  towards  his  mother 
The  expression  in  the  heads,  the  dignified  benefi- 
cence of  the  Virgin,  the  dramatic  feeling  in  the 
groups,  particularly  the  women  and  children,  justify 
the  fame  of  this  picture  as  one  of  the  greatest  of 
the  productions  of  mind.* 

There  is  yet  another  version  of  this  subject,  which 
deserves  notice  from  the  fantastic  grace  of  the  con- 
ception. As  in  early  Christian  Art,  our  vSaviour 
was  frequently  portrayed  as  the  Good  Shepherd, 
BO,  among  the  later  Spanish  fancies,  we  find  his 
Mother  represented  as  the  Divine  Shepherdess,  In 
a  picture  painted  by  Alonzo  Miguel  de  Tobar 
(Madrid  Gal.  226),  about  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  we  find  the  Virgin  Mary  seated 
under  a  tree,  in  guise  of  an  Arcadian  pastorella, 
wearing  a  broad-brimmed  hat,  encircled  by  a  glory, 
a  crook  in  her  hand,  while  she  feeds  her  flock  with 
the  mystical  roses.  The  beauty  of  expression  in 
the  head  of  the  Virgin  is  such  as  almost  to  redeem 
the  quaintness  of  the  religious  conceit ;  the  whole 
picture  is  described  as  worthy  of  Murillo.     It  was 

*  According  to  the  account  in  Murray's  "  Handbook,"  this 
future  was  dedicated  by  the  noble  family  of  Montecanini,  anci 
represents  the  Virgin  interceding  for  the  Lucchesi  during  th« 
wars  with  Florence.  But  I  confess  I  am  doubtful  of  this  inter- 
pretation,  and  rather  think  it  refers  to  the  pestilence,  which, 
%bout  1512,  desolated  the  whole  of  the  north  of  Italy.  "Wilkie, 
who  saw  this  picture  in  1825,  speaks  of  the  workmanship  with 
the  enthusiasm  of  a  workman. 


130  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MADONNA. 

painted  for  a  Franciscan  church  at  Madrid,  and  the 
idea  became  so  popular,  that  we  find  it  multiplied 
and  varied  in  French  and  German  prints  of  the 
last  century;  the  original  picture  remains  un- 
equalled for  its  pensive  poetical  grace ;  but  it  must 
be  allowed  that  the  idea,  which  at  first  view  strikes 
from  its  singularity,  is  worse  than  questionable  in 
point  of  taste,  and  will  hardly  bear  repetition. 

There  are  some  ex-voto  pictures  of  the  Madonna 
of  Mercy,  which  record  individual  acts  of  gratitude. 
One,  for  instance,  by  Nicold  Alunno  (Rome,  Pal. 
Colonna),  in  which  the  Virgin,  a  benign  and  digni- 
fied creature,  stretches  forth  her  sceptre  from  above, 
and  rebukes  the  ugly  fiend  of  Sin,  about  to  seize  a 
boy.  The  mother  kneels  on  one  side,  with  eyes  up- 
lifted, in  faith  and  trembling  supplication.  The 
same  idea  I  have  seen  repeated  in  a  picture  by 
Lanfranco. 

The  innumerable  votive  pictures  which  represent 
the  Madonna  di  Misericordia  with  the  Child  in  her 
arms,  I  shall  notice  hereafter.  They  are  in  Catho- 
lic countries  the  usual  ornaments  of  charitable  in- 
stitutions and  convents  of  the  Order  of  Mercy; 
and  have,  as  I  cannot  but  think,  a  very  touching 
lignificance. 


THE   MATER   DOLOROSA.  131 


THE  MATER  DOLOROSA. 

Bal-  La  Madre  di  Dolore.  L'Addolorata.  J?V.  Ndtre  Dame  dl 
Piti^.  IJa  Vierge  de  Doiileur.  Sp.  Nuestra  SeSora  de  Dolores 
Oer.  Die  Schmerzhafte  Mutter. 

One  of  the  most  important  of  these  devotional 
iubjects  proper  to  the  Madonna  is  the  "  Mourning 
Mother,"  the  Mater  Dolorosa,  in  which  her  charac- 
ter is  that  of  the  mother  of  the  crucified  Redeem- 
er ;  the  mother  of  the  atoning  Sacrifice ;  the  queen 
of  martyrs ;  the  woman  whose  bosom  was  pierced 
with  a  sharp  sword;  through  whose  sorrow  the 
world  was  saved,  whose  anguish  was  our  joy,  and  to 
whom  the  Roman  Catholic  Christians  address  their 
prayers  as  consoler  of  the  afflicted,  because  she  had 
herself  tasted  of  the  bitterest  of  all  earthly  sorrow, 
the  pang  of  the  agonized  mother  for  the  loss  of 
her  child. 

In  this  character  we  have  three  distinct  repre- 
sentations of  the  Madonna. 

Mater  Dolorosa.  In  the  first  she  appears 
alone,  a  seated  or  standing  figure,  often  the  head  or 
half  length  only ;  the  hands  clasped,  the  head  bowed 
in  sorrow,  tears  streaming  from  the  heavy  eyes,  and 
the  whole  expression  intensely  mournful.  The  feat- 
ures are  properly  those  of  a  woman  in  middle  age ; 
out  in  later  times  the  sentiment  of  beauty  prp.domi- 
uated  over  tnat  of  the  mother's  agony ;  and  I  have 
keen  the  sublime  Mater  Dolorosa  transformed  into 


l62  LEGENDS   OF    THE   MADONNA. 

i  merely  beautiful  and  youthful  maiden,  nvith  sucli 
an  air  of  sentimental  grief  as  might  serve  for  the 
OSS  of  a  sparrow. 

Not  so  with  the  older  heads ;  even  those  of  the 
Carracci  and  the  Spanish  school  have  often  a  won* 
derful  depth  of  feeling. 

It  is  common  in  such  representations  to  repre- 
sent the  Virgin  with  a  sword  in  her  bosom,  and 
even  with  seven  swords  in  allusion  to  the  seven  sor- 
rows. This  very  material  and  palpable  version  of 
the  allegorical  prophecy  (Luke  ii.  35)  has  been 
found  extremely  effective  as  an  appeal  to  the  pop- 
ular feelings,  so  that  there  are  few  Roman  Catholic 
churches  without  such  a  painful  and  literal  inter- 
pretation of  the  text.  It  occurs  perpetually  in 
prints,  and  there  is  a  fine  example  after  Vandyck ; 
sometimes  the  swords  are  placed  round  her  head ; 
but  there  is  no  instance  of  such  a  figure  from  the 
best  period  of  religious  art,  and  it  must  be  con- 
sidered as  anything  but  artistic :  in  this  case,  the 
more  materialized  and  the  more  matter  of  fact,  the 
more  unreal. 

Stabat  Mater.  A  second  representation  of 
the  Madre  di  Dolore  is  that  figure  of  the  Virgin 
which,  from  the  very  earliest  times,  was  placed  on 
the  right  of  the  Crucifix,  St.  John  the  Evangelist 
being  invariably  on  the  left.  I  am  speaking  here  of 
the  crucifix  as  a  wholly  ideal  and  mystical  emblem 
of  our  faith  in  a  crucified  Saviour ;  not  of  the  cru^ 
tifixion  as  an  event,  in  which  the  Virgin  is  an  acto» 


THE   MATER   DOLOROSA.  133 

and  spectator,  and  is  usually  fainting  in  the  arms  of 
her  attendants.  In  the  ideal  subject  she  is  merelj- 
an  ideal  figure,  at  once  the  mother  of  Christ,  ana 
the  personified  Church.  This,  I  think,  is  evident 
from  those  very  ancient  carvings,  and  examples  in 
Btained  glass,  in  which  the  Virgin,  as  the  Church, 
stands  on  one  side  of  the  cross,  trampling  on  a 
female  figure  which  personifies  Judaism  or  the  syn- 
agogue. Even  when  the  allegory  is  less  palpable, 
we  feel  that  the  treatment  is  wholly  religious  and 
poetical. 

The  usual  attitude  of  the  Mater  Dolorosa  by  the 
crucifix  is  that  of  intense  but  resigned  sorrow ;  the 
hands  clasped,  the  head  declined  and  shaded  by  a 
veil,  the  figure  closely  wrapped  in  a  dark  blue  or 
violet  mantle.  In  some  instances  a  more  generally 
religious  and  ideal  cast  is  given  to  the  figure ;  she 
stands  with  outspread  arms,  and  looking  up;  not 
weeping,  but  in  her  still  beautiful  face  a  mingled 
expression  of  faith  and  anguish.  This  is  the  true 
conception  of  the  sublime  hymn, 

"  Stabat  Mater  Dolorosa 
Juxta  crucem  lachiymoea 
Dum  pendebat  filius." 

La  PietA..  The  third,  and  it  is  the  most  unpor- 
twit  and  most  beautiful  of  all  as  far  as  the  Virgin  is 
concerned,  is  the  group  called  the  PietA,  which, 
when  strictly  devotional,  consists  only  of  the  Virgin 
with  her  dead  Son  in  her  arms,  or  on  her  lap,  or 
tying  at  her  feet ;  in  some  instances  with  lamenting 


134  LEGENDS    OF    THE   MADONNA. 

angels,  but  no  other  personages.  This  group  has 
been  varied  in  a  thousand  ways ;  no  doubt  the  two 
most  perfect  conceptions  are  those  of  Michael 
Angelo  and  Raphael ;  the  first  excelling  in  sub- 
limity, the  latter  in  pathos.  The  celebrated  marble 
group  by  Michael  Angelo  stands  in  the  Vatican  in 
a  chapel  to  the  right  as  we  enter.  The  Virgin  is 
seated ;  the  dead  Saviour  lies  across  the  knees  of 
his  mother ;  she  looks  down  on  him  in  mingled  sor- 
row and  resignation,  but  the  majestic  resignation 
predominates.  The  composition  of  Raphael  exists 
only  as  a  print ;  but  the  flimsy  paper,  consecrated 
through  its  unspeakable  beauty,  is  likely  to  be  as 
lasting  as  the  marble.  It  represents  the  Virgin 
standing  with  outstretched  arms,  and  looking  up 
with  an  appealing  agonized  expression  towards 
heaven ;  before  her,  on  the  earth,  lies  extended 
the  form  of  the  Saviour.  In  tenderness,  dignity, 
simplicity,  and  tragic  pathos,  nothing  can  exceed 
this  production ;  the  head  of  the  Virgin  in  particu- 
lar is  regarded  as  a  masterpiece,  so  far  exceeding 
in  delicacy  of  execution  every  other  work  of  Marc 
Antonio,  that  some  have  thought  that  Raphael  him- 
self took  the  burin  from  his  hand,  and  touched 
himself  that  face  of  quiet  woe. 

Another  example  of  wonderful  beauty  is  the 
Pietk  by  Francia,  in  our  National  Gallery.  The 
form  of  Christ  lies  extended  before  his  mother ;  a 
lamenting  angel  sustains  the  head,  another  is  at  th« 
feet;  the  Vir^n,  with  eyes  red  and  heavy  with 
weeping,  looks  out  of  the  picture.     There  needs  nt 


THE    MATER   DOLOROSA  ^  13Si 

nsible  sword  in  her  bosom  to  tell  what  anguish  has 
pierced  that  maternal  heart. 

There  is  another  Piet^,  by  Michael  Angelo,  quite 
a  different  conception.  The  Virgin  sits  at  the  foot 
of  the  cross  ;  before  her,  and  half-sustained  by  her 
knees,  lies  the  form  of  the  dead  Saviour,  seen  in 
front ;  his  arms  are  held  up  by  two  angels  (un« 
winged,  as  is  usual  with  Michael  Angelo).  The 
Virgin  looks  up  to  heaven  with  an  appealing  ex- 
pression ;  and  in  one  engraving  of  this  composi- 
tion the  cross  is  inscribed  with  the  words,  "  Tu 
non  pensi  quanto  sangue  costa."  There  is  no 
painting  by  Michael  Angelo  himself,  but  many  cop- 
ies and  engravings  of  the  drawing.  A  beautiful 
small  copy,  by  Marcello  Venusti,  is  in  the  Queen's 
Gallery. 

There  is  yet  another  version  of  the  Pietk,  quite 
mystical  and  devotional  in  its  significance,  —  but, 
to  my  feeling,  more  painful  and  material  than  poeti- 
cal. It  is  variously  treated ;  for  example :  —  1. 
The  dead  Redeemer  is  seen  half-length  within  the 
tomb ;  his  hands  are  extended  to  show  his  wounds ; 
his  eyes  are  closed,  his  head  declined,  his  bleeding 
brow  encircled  by  thorns.  On  one  side  is  the  Vir- 
gin, on  the  other  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  in  atti- 
tudes of  profound  grief  and  commiseration.  2.  The 
dead  form,  half  emerging  from  the  tomb,  is  sus- 
tained in  the  arms  of  the  Mater  Dolorosa.  St. 
John  the  Evangelist  on  the  other  side. '  There  are 
•ometimes  angels. 

Thr3  Pietk  thus  conceived  as  a  purely  religioui 


186      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

and  ideal  impersonation  of  the  atoning  Sacrifice  is 
commonly  placed  over  the  altar  of  the  sacrament 
and  in  many  altar-pieces  it  forms  the  centre  of  the 
predella,  just  in  front  where  the  mass  is  celebrated, 
or  on  the  door  of  the  tabernacle,  where  the  Host  la 
deposited. 

When,  with  the  Mater  Dolorosa  and  St.  John, 
Mary  Magdalene  is  introduced  with  her  dishevelled 
hair,  the  group  ceases  to  be  properly  a  Pietk,  and 
becomes  a  representation  rather  than  a  symbol. 

There  are  also  exsimples  of  a  yet  more  complex 
but  still  perfectly  ideal  and  devotional  treatment, 
in  which  the  Mourning  Mother  is  attended  by 
saints. 

A  most  celebrated  instance  of  this  treatment  ia 
the  Pieta  by  Guido.  (Bologna  Gal.)  In  the  upper 
part  of  the  composition,  the  figure  of  the  dead  Re- 
deemer lies  extended  on  a  white  shroud ;  behind 
Lim  stands  the  Virgin-mother,  with  her  eyes  raised 
to  heaven,  and  sad  appealing  face,  touched  with  so 
divine  a  sorrow  —  so  much  of  dignity  in  the  midst 
of  infinite  anguish,  that  I  know  nothing  finer  in 
its  way.  Her  hands  are  resignedly  folded  in  each 
other,  not  raised,  not  clasped,  but  languidly  droop- 
ing. An  angel  stands  at  the  feet  of  Christ  looking 
on  with  a  tender  adoring  commiseration  ;  another, 
at  his  head,  turns  away  weeping.  A  kind  of  cur- 
tain divides  this  group  from  the  lower  part  of  the 
picture,  where,  assembled  on  a  platform,  stand  ot 
kneel  the  guardian  saints  of  Bologna :  iu  the  ceo* 


THE   IMMACULATE    CONCEPTION.  13? 

Ire,  the  benevolent  St.  Charles  Borromeo,  who  just 
about  that  time  had  been  canonized  and  added  to 
the  list  of  the  patrons  of  Bologna  by  a  decree  of 
the  senate ;  on  the  right,  St.  Dominick  and  St. 
Petronius ;  on  the  left,  St.  Proculus  and  St.  Fran- 
cis. These  sainted  personages  look  up  as  if  adjur- 
ing the  Virgin,  even  by  her  own  deep  anguish,  to 
intercede  for  the  city;  she  is  here  at  once  our 
Lady  of  Pity,  of  Succour,  and  of  Sorrow.  This 
wonderful  picture  was  dedicated,  as  an  act  of  pen- 
ance and  piety,  by  the  magistrates  of  Bologna,  in 
1616,  and  placed  in  their  chapel  in  the  church  of 
the  "  Mendicanti,"  otherwise  S.  Maria-della-PietJu 
It  hung  there  for  two  centuries,  for  the  consolation 
of  the  afflicted ;  it  is  now  placed  in  the  Academy 
of  Bologna  for  the  admiration  of  connoisseurs. 


OUR    LADY  OF    THE    IMMACULATE    CONCEP- 
TION. 

Ral.  La  Madonna  Purissima.  Lat.  Regina  sine  labe  original! 
ooncepta.  S^a.  Nuestra  Senora  sin  peccado  concepida.  La 
Concepcion.  Fr.  La  Conception  de  la  Vierge  Marie.  Ger. 
Das  Geheimnlss  der  unbefleckten  Emp^Uigniss  Mari'd.    Bee.  S. 

The  last  and  the  latest  subject  in  which  the  Vir- 
gin appears  alone  without  the  Child,  is  that  en 
titled  the  "  Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin ; "  and  sometimes  merely  "  The  Concep- 
tion.** There  is  no  instance  of  its  treatment  in 
<he  earlier  schools  of  art ;  but  as  one  of  the  most 


i$$  LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

popular  subjects  of  the  Italian  and  Spanish  paint* 
ters  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  one  very  fre- 
quently misunderstood,  it  is  necessary  to  go  into 
the  history  of  its  origin. 

In  the  early  ages  of  Christianity,  it  was  usual  to 
celebrate,  as  festivals  of  the  Church,  the  Concep- 
tion of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  Conception  of  his 
kinsman  and  precursor  John  the  Baptist ;  the  latter 
as  miraculous,  the  former  as  being  at  once  divine 
and  miraculous.  In  the  eleventh  century  it  was 
proposed  to  celebrate  the  Conception  of  the  Vir- 
gin Mother  of  the  Redeemer. 

From  the  time  that  the  heresy  of  Nestorius  had 
been  condemned,  and  that  the  dignity  of  the  Vir- 
gin as  mother  of  the  Divinity  had  become  a  point 
of  doctrine,  it  was  not  enough  to  advocate  her  ex- 
celling virtue  and  stainless  purity  as  a  mere  human 
being.  It  was  contended,  that  having  been  pre- 
destined from  the  beginning  as  the  Woman  through 
whom  the  divine  nature  was  made  manifest  on 
earth,  she  must  be  presumed  to  be  exempt  from  all 
iin,  even  from  that  original  taint  inherited  from 
Adam.  Through  the  first  Eve,  we  had  all  died; 
through  the  second  Eve,  we  had  all  been  "  made 
alive.'*  It  was  argued  that  God  had  never  sufiered 
his  earthly  temple  to  be  profaned ;  had  even  pro- 
mulgated in  person  severe  ordinances  to  preserve 
its  sanctuary  inviolate.  How  much  more  to  him 
was  that  temple,  that  tabernacle  built  by  no  human 
hands,  in  which  he  had  condescended  to  dwell 
Nothing  was  impossible  to  Grod ;   it  lay,  therefore 


THE   IMMACULATE    CONCEPTION.  1351 

m  his  power  to  cause  his  Mother  to  come  absolutely 
pure  and  immaculate  into  the  world :  being  in  hia 
power,  could  any  earnest  worshipper  of  the  Virgin 
doubt  for  a  moment  that  for  one  so  favoured  it 
would  not  be  done  ?  Such  was  the  reasoning  of 
our  forefathers ;  and  the  premises  granted,  who 
shall  call  it  illogical  or  irreverent  ? 

For  three  or  four  centuries,  from  the  seventh  to 
the  eleventh,  these  ideas  had  been  gaining  ground. 
St.  Udefonso  of  Seville  distinguished  himself  by  his 
writings  on  this  subject ;  and  how  the  Virgin  rec- 
ompensed his  zeal,  Murillo  has  shown  us,  and  I 
have  related  in  the  life  of  that  saint.  (Legends  of 
the  Monastic  Orders.)  But  the  first  mention  of  a 
festival,  or  solemn  celebration  of  the  Mystery  of  the 
Inamaculate  Conception,  may  be  traced  to  an  Eng- 
lish monk  of  the  eleventh  century,  whose  name 
is  not  recorded,  (v.  Baillet,  vol.  xii.)  When,  how* 
ever,  it  was  proposed  to  give  the  papal  sanction  to 
this  doctrine  as  an  article  of  belief,  and  to  institute 
a  church  office  for  the  purpose  of  celebrating  the 
Conception  of  Mary,  there  arose  strong  opposition. 
What  is  singular,  St.  Bernard,  so  celebrated  for  his 
enthusiastic  devotion  to  the  Virgin,  was  most  strenu- 
ous and  eloquent  in  his  disapprobation.  He  pro- 
nounced no  judgment  against  those  who  received 
the  doctrine  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  he 
rather  leaned  towards  it ;  but  he  opposed  the  insti- 
tution of  the  festival  as  an  innovation  not  counte- 
nanced by  the  early  fathers  of  the  Church.  After 
the  death  of  St.  Bernard  for  about  a  hundred 


140  LKGENDS   OP    THE   MADONNA. 

years,  the  dispute  slept ;  but  the  doctrine  gained 
ground.  The  thirteenth  century,  so  remarkable 
for  the  manifestation  of  religious  enthusiasm  in  all 
its  forms,  beheld  the  revival  of  this  celebrated  con- 
fcroversy.  A  certain  Franciscan  friar,  Duns  Scotus 
(John  Scott  of  Dunse),  entered  the  lists  as  cham- 
pion for  the  Virgin.  He  was  opposed  by  the  Do- 
minicans and  their  celebrated  polemic  Thomas 
Aquinas,  who,  like  St.  Bernard,  was  known  for  his 
enthusiastic  reverence  for  the  Virgin ;  but,  like  hrai, 
and  on  the  sam^  grounds,  objected  to  the  introduc- 
tion of  new  forms.  Thus  the  theological  schools 
were  divided. 

During  the  next  two  hundred  years  the  belief 
became  more  and  more  general,  the  doctrine  more 
and  more  popular ;  still  the  Church,  while  it  toler- 
ated both,  refused  to  ratify  either.  All  this  time 
we  find  no  particular  representation  of  the  favour- 
ite dogma  in  art,  for  until  ratified  by  the  authority 
of  the  Church,  it  could  not  properly  enter  into 
ecclesiastical  decoration.  We  find,  however,  that 
the  growing  belief  in  the  pure  Conception  and 
miraculous  sanctification  of  the  Virgin  multiplied 
the  representations  of  her  coronation  and  glorifica- 
tion, as  the  only  permitted  expression  of  the  popu- 
lar enthusiasm  on  this  point.  For  the  powerful 
Order  of  the  Franciscans,  who  were  at  this  time 
and  for  a  century  afterwards  the  most  ardent 
champions  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  were 
painted  most  of  the  pictures  of  the  Coronation 
produced  during  the  fourteenth  century. 


THE   IMMACULATE    CONCEPTION^  141 

The  first  papal  decree  touching  the  "  Immaculate 
Conception"  as  an  article  of  faith,  was  promul- 
gated in  the  reign  of  Sixtus  IV.,  who  had  been  a 
Franciscan  friar,  and  he  took  the  earliest  opportu- 
nity of  giving  the  solemn  sanction  of  the  Church 
to  what  had  ever  been  the  favourite  dogma  of  his 
Order;  but  the  celebration  of  the  festival,  never 
actually  forbidden,  had  by  this  time  become  so 
uaual,  that  the  papal  ordinance  merely  sanctioned 
without  however  rendering  it  obligatory.  An  office 
was  composed  for  the  festival,  and  in  1496  the  Sor- 
bonne  declared  in  favour  of  it.  Still  it  remained 
a  point  of  dispute ;  still  there  were  dissentient  voices, 
principally  among  the  Dominican  theologians  ;  and 
from  1500  to  1600  we  find  this  controversy  oc- 
cupying the  pens  of  the  ecclesiastics,  and  excit- 
ing the  interest  and  the  imagination  of  the  peo- 
ple. In  Spain  the  "  Immaculate  Conception  of 
the  Virgin,"  owing  perhaps  to  the  popularity  and 
power  of  the  Franciscans  in  that  country,  had  long 
been  "  the  darling  dogma  of  the  Spanish  Church." 
Villegas,  in  the  "  Flos  Sanctorum,"  while  admitting 
the  modern  origin  of  the  opinion,  and  the  silence 
of  the  Church,  contended  that,  had  this  great  fact 
been  made  manifest  earHer  and  in  less  enlightened 
times,  it  might  possibly  have  led  to  the  error  of 
worshipping  the  Virgin  as  an  actual  goddess. 
(Stirling's  Artists  of  Spam,  p.  905.)  To  those 
who  are  conversant  with  Spanish  theology  and  art, 
it  may  seem  that  the  distinction  drawn  in  theory  ia 
not  very  definite  or  perceptible  in  practice. 
10 


142  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MADONNA. 

At  length,  in  July,  1615,  Paul  Y.  formally  insti 
tuted  the  office  commemorating  the  Immaculate 
Conception,  and  in  1617  issued  a  bull  forbidding 
any  one  to  teach  or  preach  a  contrary  opinion. 
"  On  the  publication  of  this  bull,  Seville  flew  into  a 
frenzy  of  religious  joy."  The  archbishop  performed 
a  solemn  service  in  the  Cathedral.  Cannon  roared, 
and  bull  fights,  tournaments,  and  banquets  cele- 
brated this  triumph  of  the  votaries  of  the  Virgin. 
Spain  and  its  dependencies  were  solemnly  placed 
under  the  protection  of  the  "  Immaculate  Concep- 
tion," thus  personifying  an  abstract  idea ;  and  to 
this  day,  a  Spaniard  salutes  his  neighbour  with  the 
angelic  "  Ave  Maria  purissima ! "  and  he  responds 
"  Sin  peccado  concepida  I "  * 

I  cannot  find  the  date  of  the  earliest  picture  of 
the  Immaculate  Conception  ;  but  the  first  writer  on 
the  art  who  makes  allusion  to  the  subject,  and  lays 
down  specific  rules  from  ecclesiastical  authority  for 
iia  proper  treatment,  is  the  Spaniard  Pacheco,  who 
must  have  been  about  forty  years  of  age  when  the 
bull  was  published  at  Seville  in  1618.  It  is  soon 
after  this  time  that  we  first  hear  of  pictures  of  the 
Immaculate  Conception.  Pacheco  subsequently 
became  a  familiar  of  the  Inquisition,  and  wielded 
the  authority  of  the  holy  office  as  inspector  of  sacr» 

•  In  our  own  days  we  have  seen  this  curious  controveriy 
reTived.  One  of  the  latest,  if  not  the  last,  writer  on  the  subjec 
wa«  Cardinal  Lambrusehini ;  and  the  last  papal  ordinance  wa* 
promulgated  by  Pio  Nono,  and  dated  from  Gaeta,  1849 


THE   IMMACULATE   CONCEPTION.  143 

pictures ;  and  in  his  "  Arte  de  la  Pintura,"  pub- 
lished in  1649,  he  laid  down  those  rules  for  the 
representation  which  had  been  generally,  though 
not  always,  exactly  followed. 

It  is  evident  that  the  idea  is  taken  from  the 
woman  in  the  Apocalypse,  "  clothed  with  the  sun, 
having  the  moon  under  her  feet,  and  on  her  head 
a  crown  of  twelve  stars."  The  Virgin  is  to  be 
portrayed  in  the  first  spring  and  bloom  of  youth 
as  a  maiden  of  about  twelve  or  thirteen  years  of 
age ;  with  "  grave  sweet  eyes ;  "  her  hair  golden ; 
her  features  "  with  all  the  beauty  painting  can  ex- 
press ; "  her  hands  are  to  be  folded  on  her  bosom 
or  joined  in  prayer.  The  sun  is  to  be  expressed 
by  a  flood  of  light  around  her.  The  moon  under 
her  feet  is  to  have  the  horns  pointing  downwards, 
because  illuminated  from  above,  and  the  twelve 
stars  are  to  form  a  crown  over  her  head.  The 
robe  must  be  of  spotless  white ;  the  mantle  or 
scarf  blue.  Round  her  are  to  hover  cherubim  bear- 
ing roses,  palms,  and  lilies ;  the  head  of  the  bruised 
and  vanquished  dragon  is  to  be  under  her  feet  She 
ought  to  have  the  cord  of  St.  Francis  as  a  girdle, 
because  in  this  guise  she  appeared  to  Beatriz  de 
Silva,  a  noble  Franciscan  nun,  who  was  favoured  by 
a  celestial  vision  of  the  Madonna  in  her  beatitude. 
Perhaps  the  good  services  of  the  Franciscans  aa 
champions  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  procured 
ihem  the  honour  of  being  thus  commemorated. 

All  these  accessories  are  not  absolutely  and  rig- 
s31y  required;  and  Murillo,  who  is  entitled  par 


144  LEGENDS   OF    THE    MADONNA. 

txcellence  the  painter  of  the  Conception,  sometimes 
departed  from  the  letter  of  the  law  without  being 
considered  as  less  orthodox.  With  him  the  cres- 
cent moon  is  sometimes  the  full  moon,  or  when  a 
crescent  the  horns  point  upwards  instead  of  down- 
wards. He  usually  omits  the  starry  crown,  and,  in 
spite  of  his  predilection  for  the  Capuchin  Order, 
the  cord  of  St  Francis  is  in  most  instances  dis- 
pensed with.  He  is  exact  with  regard  to  the  col- 
ours of  the  drapery,  but  not  always  in  the  colour  of 
the  hair.  On  the  other  hand,  the  beauty  and  ex- 
pression of  the  face  and  attitude,  the  mingled  love- 
liness, dignity,  and  purity,  are  given  with  exquisite 
feeling ;  and  we  are  never,  as  in  his  other  represen- 
tations of  the  Madonna,  reminded  of  commonplace, 
homely,  often  peasant,  portraiture  ;  here  all  is  spot- 
less grace,  ethereal  delicacy,  benignity,  refinement, 
repose,  —  the  very  apotheosis  of  womanhood. 

I  must  go  back  to  observe,  that  previous  to  the 
promulgation  of  the  famous  bull  of  Pope  Paul  V., 
the  popular  ideas  concerning  the  Immaculate  Con- 
ception had  left;  their  impress  on  art.  Before  the 
subject  had  taken  an  express  and  authorized  form, 
we  find  pictures  which,  if  they  do  not  represent 
it,  relate  to  it.  I  remember  two  which  cannot 
be  otherwise  interpreted,  and  there  are  probably 
others. 

The  first  is  a  curious  picture  of  the  early  Florer^ 
tine  School.  (Berlin  Gal.)  In  the  centre  is  origi 
Dal  sin,  represented  by  Eve  and  the  Serpent ;  on 
Ihe  right  stand  St.  Ambrose,  St.  Hilarius,  St  Ai» 


THE   IMMACULATE   CONCEPTION.  145 

Belm,  and  St.  Bernard ;  on  the  left  St.  Cyril,  Ori- 
gen,  St.  Augustine,  and  St.  Cyprian ;  and  below 
are  inscribed  passages  from  the  writings  of  these 
fathers  relating  to  the  immaculate  Conception  of 
the  Virgin :  all  of  them  had  given  to  her  in  their 
works  the  title  of  Immaculate,  most  pure  ;  but  they 
differed  as  to  the  period  of  her  sanctification,  as  to 
whether  it  was  in  the  moment  of  conception  or  at 
the  moment  of  birth. 

The  other  picture  is  in  the  Dresden  Gallery,  and 
one  of  the  finest  productions  of  that  extraordinary 
Ferrarese  painter  Dosso  Dossi.  In  the  lower  part 
of  the  picture  are  the  four  Latin  Fathers,  turning 
over  their  great  books,  or  in  deep  meditation  ;  be- 
hind them,  the  Franciscan  Bernardino  of  Siena. 
Above,  in  a  glory  of  light,  the  Virgin,  clothed,  not 
in  spotless  white,  but  a  richly  embroidered  regal 
mantle, "  wrought  about  with  divers  colours,"  kneels 
at  the  feet  of  the  Almighty,  who  extends  his  hand 
in  benediction.  I  find  no  account  in  the  catalogue 
whence  this  picture  was  taken,  but  it  was  evidently 
psdnted  for  the  Franciscans. 

In  1617,  when  the  Bull  of  Paul  V.  was  formally 
expedited,  Guido  was  attached  to  the  papal  court 
En  quality  of  painter  and  an  especial  favourite  with 
his  Holiness.  Among  the  earliest  accredited  pic- 
tures of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  are  four  of 
his  finest  works. 

1.  The  cupola  of  the  private  chapel  of  the  Quir- 
mal  represents  the  Almighty  meditating  the  greaf 


146  LEGENDS   OF    IHE   MADONNA. 

miracle  of  tlie  Immaculate  Conception,  and  neat 
him,  within  the  same  glory  of  light,  is  the  Virgin  in 
her  white  tunic,  and  in  an  attitude  of  adoration. 
This  was  painted  about  1610  or  1611,  when  Pope 
Paul  Y.  was  meditating  the  promulgation  of  his 
famous  ordinance. 

2.  The  great  picture,  also  painted  for  Paul  V^ 
represents  the  doctors  of  the  Church  arguing  and 
consulting  their  great  books  for  the  authorities  on 
the  subject  of  the  Conception,*  Above,  the  Virgin 
is  seated  in  glory,  arrayed  in  spotless  white,  her 
hands  crossed  over  her  bosom,  and  her  eyes  turned 
towards  the  celestial  fountain  of  light.  Below  are 
Bix  doctors,  consulting  their  books ;  they  are  not 
well  characterized,  being  merely  so  many  ideal 
heads  in  a  mannered  style  ;  but  I  believe  they  rep- 
resent the  four  Latin  Fathers,  with  St.  John  Dam- 
ascene and  St.  Udefonso,  who  were  especial  defend- 
ers of  the  doctrine. 

3.  The  next  in  point  of  date  was  painted  for  the 
Infanta  of  Spain,  which  I  believe  to  be  the  same 
now  in  the  possession  of  Lord  EUesmere.  The  fig- 
ure of  the  Virgin,  crowned  with  the  twelve  stars, 
and  relieved  from  a  background  of  golden  light, 
is  standing  on  a  crescent  sustained  by  three  cher- 
ubs beneath:  she  seems  to  float  between  heaven 
and  earth ;  on  either  side  is  a  seraph,  with  hands 
folded  and  looks  upraised  in  adoration.  The 
whole  painted  in  his  silvery  tone,  with  such  an 
extreme  delicacy  and  transparency  of  effect,  tha/ 

*  Petersburg  Imp.  Gal.    There  is  a  fine  eagrayiog. 


THE   IMMACULATE   CONCEPTION.  147 

t  might  be  styled  "  a  vision  of  the  Immaculate  Con- 
Bcption." 

4.  The  fourth  was  painted  for  the  chapel  of  the 
Immaculate  ConceptKyi,  in  the  church  of  San  Bia- 
gio,  at  Forli,  and*is  there  still. 

Just  as  the  Italian  schools  of  painting  were  on 
the  decline,  the  Spanish  school  of  art  arose  in  all 
its  glorjl,  and  the  "  Conception  "  became,  from  the 
popularity  of  the  dogma,  not  merely  an  ecclesias- 
tical, but  a  popular  subject.  Not  only  every  church, 
but  almost  every  private  house,  contained  the  effigy 
either  painted  or  carved,  or  both,  of  our  Lady  "  sin 
peccado  concepida ; "  and  when  the  academy  of 
painting  was  founded  at  Seville,  in  1660,  every 
candidate  for  admission  had  to  declare  his  orthodox 
belief  in  the  most  pure  Conception  of  our  Lady. 

The  finest  Spanish  "  Conception "  before  the 
time  of  Murillo,  is  by  Roelas,  who  died  in  1625  ;  it 
is  in  the  academy  at  Seville,  and  is  mentioned  by 
Mr.  Ford  as  "  equal  to  Guido.''  * 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  and  characteristic,  as 
well  as  earliest,  examples  of  this  subject  I  have  seen, 
is  a  picture  in  the  Esterhazy  Gallery  at  Vienna. 
The  Virgin  is  in  the  first  bloom  of  girlhood ;  she 
looks  not  more  than  nine  or  ten  years  old,  with 
dark  hair,  Spanish  features,  and  a  charming  expres. 
lion  of  childlike  simplicity  and  devotion.  She 
itands  amid  clouds,  with  her  hands  joined,  and  the 

*  Handbook  of  Spain.  A.  very  fine  picture  of  this  subject,  bj 
Roelas,  was  sold  out  of  the  Soult  Collection. 


148  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MADONNA. 

proper  white  and  blue  drapery :  there  are  no  acces 
lories.  This  picture  is  attributed  to  an  obscure 
painter,  Lazaro  Tavarone,  of  whom  I  can  learn 
nothing  more  than  that  he  was  employed  in  the 
Escurial  about  1590. 

The  beautiful  small "  Conception  "  by  Velasquez, 
in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Frere,  is  a  departure  from 
the  rules  laid  down  by  Pacheco  in  regard  to  cos- 
tume ;  therefore,  as  I  presume,  painted  before  he 
entered  the  studio  of  the  artist-inquisitor,  whose 
son-in-law  he  became  before  he  was  three  and 
twenty.  Here  the  Virgin  is  arrayed  in  a  pale  vio- 
let robe,  with  a  dark  blue  mantle.  Her  hands  are 
joined,  and  she  looks  down.  The  solemnity  and 
depth  of  expression  in  the  sweet  girlish  face  is  very 
striking ;  the  more  so,  that  it  is  not  a  beautiful  face, 
and  has  the  air  of  a  portrait.  Her  long  hair  flows 
over  her  shoulders.  The  figure  is  relieved  against 
a  bright  sun,  with  fleecy  clouds  around ;  and  the 
twelve  stars  are  over  her  head.  She  stands  on  the 
round  moon,  of  which  the  upper  half  is  illumined. 
Below,  on  earth,  and  through  the  deep  shadow,  are 
Been  several  of  the  emblems  of  the  Virgin  —  the 
fountain,  the  temple,  the  olive,  the  cypress,  and  the 
garden  enclosed  in  a  treillage  of  roses.*  This  pic- 
ture is  very  remarkable ;  it  is  in  the  earliest  man- 
ner of  Velasquez,  painted  in  the  bold  free  style  of 
his  first  master,  Herrara,  whose  school  he  quitted 
when  he  was  about  seventeen  or  eighteen,  just  at 

*  T.  Introduction :    "  The  Symbols  and  Attributes  of    th* 
nrgln."  t 


THE   IMMACULATE   CONCEPTION.  14$ 

the  pei^vOd  when  the   Pope's  ordinance  was  pro- 
claimed at  Seville. 

Of  twenty-five  pictures  of  this  subject,  painted 
by  Murillo,  there  are  not  two  exactly  alike ;  and 
they  are  of  all  sizes,  from  the  colossal  figure  called 
the  "  Great  Conception  of  Seville,'*  to  the  exquisite 
miniature  representation  in  the  possession  of  Lord 
Overston,  not  more  than  fifteen  inches  in  height 
Lord  Lansdowne  has  also  a  beautiful  small  "  Con- 
ception," very  simply  treated.  In  those  which  have 
dark  hair,  Murillo  is  said  to  have  taken  his  daugh- 
ter Francisca  as  a  model.  The  number  of  attend- 
ant angels  varies  from  one  or  two,  to  thirty.  They 
bear  the  palm,  the  olive,  the  rose,  the  lily,  the  mir- 
ror; sometimes  a  sceptre  and  crown.  I  remem- 
ber but  few  instances  in  which  he  has  introduced 
the  dragon-fiend,  an  omission  which  Pacheco  is 
willing  to  forgive ;  "  for,"  as  he  observes,  "  no  man 
ever  painted  the  devil  with  good- will." 

In  the  Louvre  picture  (No.  1124),  the  Virgin  is 
adored  by  three  ecclesiastics.  In  another  example, 
quoted  by  Mr.  StirHng  (Artists  of  Spain,  p.  839), 
a  friar  is  seen  writing  at  her  feet :  this  figure  prob- 
ably represents  her  champion,  the  friar  Dung 
Scotus.  There  is  at  Hampton  Court  a  picture,  by 
Spagnoletto,  of  this  same  Duns  Scotus  writing  his 
defence  of  the  Immaculate  Conception.  Spagno- 
letto was  painting  at  Naples,  when,  in  1618,  "  the 
Viceroy  solenmly  swore,  in  presence  of  the  as- 
•embled  multitude,  to  defend  with  his  life  the  doo- 


150  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MADONNA, 

wrine  ol  the  Immaculate  Conception ;"  and  this  pic- 
Lure,  curious  and  striking  in  its  way,  was  painted 
about  the  same  time. 

In  Italy,  the  decline  of  Art  in  the  seventeenth 
century  is  nowhere  more  apparent,  nor  more  of- 
fensive, than  in  this  subject.  A  finished  example 
of  the  most  execrable  taste  is  the  mosaic  in  St 
Peter's,  after  Pietro  Bianchi.  There  exists,  some- 
where, a  picture  of  the  Conception,  by  Le  Brun, 
in  which  the  Virgin  has  no  other  drapery  than  a 
thin,  transparent  gauze,  and  has  the  air  of  a  Venus 
Meretrix.  In  some  old  French  prints,  the  Virgin 
is  surrounded  by  a  number  of  angels,  defending 
her  with  shield  and  bulkier  against  demons  who 
are  taking  aim  at  her  with  fiery  arrows.  Such, 
and  even  worse,  vagaries  and  perversities,  are  to  be 
found  in  the  innumerable  pictures  of  this  favourite 
subject,  which  inundated  the  churches  between 
1640  and  1720.  Of  these  I  shall  say  no  more. 
The  pictures  of  Guido  and  Murillo,  and  the  carved 
figures  of  Alonzo  Cano,  Montanez,  and  Hernan- 
dez, may  be  regarded  as  authorized  effigies  of  "  Our 
Lady  of  the  most  pure  Conception ; "  in  other  words, 
as  embodying,  in  the  most  attractive,  decorous,  and 
intelligible  form,  an  abstract  theological  dogma, 
which  is  in  itself  one  of  the  most  curious,  and,  in  its 
results,  one  of  the  most  important  of  the  religioui 
phenomena  connected  with  the  artistic  represents^ 
tions  of  the  Virgin.* 

•  We  often  find  on  pictures  and  prints  of  the  Immaculate  Coi 


THE   IMMACULATE   CONCEPTION.  151 

We  must  be  careful  to  discriminate  between  the 
Conception,  so  styled  by  ecclesiastical  authority,  and 
that  singular  and  mystical  representation  which  ia 
Bometimes  called  the  "Predestination  of  Mary," 
and  sometimes  the  "  Litanies  of  the  Virgin."  Col- 
lectors and  writers  on  art  must  bear  in  mind,  that 
the  former,  as  a  subject,  dates  only  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  latter  from 
the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth.  Although,  as  rep- 
resentations, so  very  similar,  yet  the  intention  and 
meaning  are  different.  In  the  Conception  it  is  the 
sinless  Virgin  in  her  personal  character,  who  is 
held  up  to  reverence,  as  the  purest,  wisest,  holiest, 
of  created  beings.  The  earlier  theme  involves  a 
yet  more  recondite  signification.  It  is,  undoubt- 
edly, to  be  regarded  as  an  attempt  on  the  part  of 
the  artist  to  express,  m  a  visible  form,  the  idea  or 
promise  of  the  redemption  of  the  human  race,  as 
existing  in  the  Sovereign  Mind  before  the  begin- 
ning of  things.  They  do  not  personify  this  idea 
under  the  image  of  "Christ,  —  for  they  conceived 
that,  as  the  second  person  of  the  Trinity,  he  could 
not  be  his  own  instrument,  —  but  by  the  image  of 

wption,  certain  scriptural  texts  which  the  theologians  of  the 
Roman  Church  have  applied  to  the  Blessed  Virgin ;  for  instance, 
from  Ps.  xliv.  Omnis  gloria  ejus  filice  regis  ab  intus,  —  "  The 
king's  daughter  is  all  glorious  within ;  "  or  from  the  Canticles 
w.  7,  Tota  pulckra  es  arnica  mea,  et  macula  non  est  in  te,  — . 
fhou  art  all  fair,  my  love,  there  is  no  spot  in  thee."  I  have  also 
Been  the  texts,  Ps.  xxii.  10,  and  Prov.  viii.  22,  23,  xxxi.  29,  thus 
applied,  as  well  as  other  passages  from  the  very  poetical  office  of 
Uie  Virgin  In  Festo  ImtnuculatcB  Conceptionis. 


152      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

Mary  surrounded  by  those  attributes  which  were 
afterwards  introduced  into  the  pictures  of  the  Con- 
ception ;  or  setting  her  foot,  as  second  Eve,  on  the 
head  of  the  prostrate  serpent.  Not  seldom,  in  a 
series  of  subjects  from  the  Old  Testament,  the  pen^ 
dant  to  Eve  holding  the  apple  is  Mary  crushing  the 
head  of  the  fiend ;  and  thus  the  "  bane  and  anti- 
dote are  both  before  us."  This  is  the  proper  inter- 
pretation of  those  effigies,  so  prevalent  in  every 
form  of  art  during  the  sixteenth  century,  and 
which  are  often,  but  erroneously,  styled  the  Immac- 
ulate Conception. 

The  numerous  heads  of  the  Virgin  which  pro- 
ceeded from  the  later  schools  of  Italy  and  Spain, 
wherein  she  appears  neither  veiled  nor  crowned, 
but  very  young,  and  with  flowing  hair  and  white 
vesture,  are  intended  to  embody  the  popular  idea 
of  the  Madonna  purissima,  of  "  the  Virgin  most 
pure,  conceived  without  sin,"  in  an  abridged  form. 
There  is  one  by  Murillo,  in  the  collection  of  Mr. 
Holford ;  and  another  by  Guido,  which  will  give  an 
idea  of  the  treatment. 

Before  quitting  the  subject  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception,  I  must  refer  to  a  very  curious  picture  * 
called  an  Assumption,  but  certainly  painted  at  least 
one  hundred  years  before  the  Immaculate  Concep- 
tion was  authorized  as  a  Church  subject. 

From  the  year  1496,  when  Sixtus  IV.  promul- 
gated his  Bull,  and  the  Sorbonne  put  forth  theii 

*  Once  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Solly,  and  now  in  the  poflMi 
tfon  of  Mr.  Bromley  of  Wootten. 


THE   IMMACULATE   CONCEPTION.  158 

femous  decree,  —  at  a  time  when  there  was  less  of 
faith  and  religious  feeling  in  Italy  than  ever  before, 
—  this  abstract  dogma  became  a  sort  of  watchword 
with  theological  disputants ;  not  ecclesiastics  only, 
the  literati  and  the  reigning  powers  took  an  inter- 
est in  the  controversy,  and  were  arrayed  on  one 
gide  or  the  other.  The  Borgias,  for  instance,  were 
opposed  to  it.  Just  at  this  period,  the  singular  pic- 
ture I  allude  to  was  painted  by  Girolamo  da  Cotig- 
nola.  It  is  mentioned  by  Lanzi,  but  his  account 
6f  it  is  not  quite  correct. 

Above,  in  glory,  is  seen  the  Padre  Etemo,  sur-' 
rounded  by  cherubim  bearing  a  scroll,  on  which  is 
inscribed,  "  Nbn  enim  pro  te  sed  pro  omnibus  hec 
lex  constitutura  est"*  Lower  down  the  Virgin 
stands  on  clouds,  with  hands  joined,  and  attired  in 
a  white  tunic  embroidered  with  gold,  a  blue  mantle 
liiled  with  red,  and,  which  is  quite  singular  and  un- 
orthodox, Uack  shoes.  Below,  on  the  earth,  and 
to  the  right,  stands  a  bishop  without  a  glory,  hold- 
ing a  scroll,  on  which  is  inscribed,  '*  Non  puto  verl 
esse  amatorem  Virginis  qui  respuit  celebrare  Festum 
sucB  Conceptionis  ;  "  on  the  left  is  St.  Jerome.  In 
the  centre  are  three  kneeling  figures :  on  one  side 
St.  Catherine  (or  perhaps  Caterina  Sforza  in  the 
character  of  St.  Catherine,  for  the  head  looks  like 
B  portrait)  ;  on  the  other  an  elderly  woman,  Gi- 
nevra  Tiepolo,  widow  of  Giovanni  Sforza,  last 
prince  of  Pesaro  ;  f    between   them  the  little  Cob 

•  From  the  Oflaice  of  the  Blessed  Virgin. 

t  Ihis  Gioyanni  was  the  first  husband  of  Lucreaa  Borgia 


154  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MADONNA. 

kanzo  Sforza,  looking  up  with  a  charming  devout 
expression.*       Underneath   is   inscribed,    "JuNi- 

PERA     SfORTIA    PaTRIA    A    MARITO      RECEPTA. 

ExvoTO  Mcccccxii."  Giovanni  Sforza  had  been 
dispossessed  of  his  dominions  by  the  Borgias,  aftei 
his  divorce  from  Lucrezia,  and  died  in  1501.  The 
Borgias  ceased  to  reign  in  1512 ;  and  Ginevra,  aj>- 
parently  restored  to  her  country,  dedicated  this 
picture,  at  once  a  memorial  of  her  gratitude  and  of 
her  faith.  It  remained  over  the  high-altar  of  the 
Church  of  the  Serviti,  at  Pesaro,  till  acquired  by 
Mr.  Solly,  from  whom  it  was  purchased  by  Mr. 
Bromley,  f 

*  Lanzi  calls  this  child  Costanzo  II.,  prince  of  Pesaro.  Very 
Interesting  memoirs  of  all  the  personages  here  referred  to  may 
be  found  in  Mr.  Dennistoun's  "  Dukes  of  Urbino." 

t  Girolamo  Marchesi  da  Cotignola  was  a  painter  of  the  Frin- 
cia  school,  whose  works  date  from  about  1506  to  1550.  Those  %t 
his  pictures  which  I  have  seen  are  of  very  unequal  merit,  and, 
with  much  feeling  and  expression  in  the  heads,  are  often  man- 
nered and  fantastic  as  compositions.  This  agrees  with  what 
Vasari  says,  that  his  excellence  lay  in  portraiture,  for  which  rea- 
son he  was  summoned,  after  the  battle  of  Ravenna,  to  paint  the 
portrait  of  Gaston  de  Foix,  as  he  lay  dead.  (See  Vasari,  Vita  di 
Bagnacavallo ;  and  in  the  English  trans.,  vol.  iii.  331.)  The 
picture  above  described,  which  has  a  sort  of  historical  interest, 
Is  perhaps  the  same  mentioned  in  Murray's  Handbook  (Centra. 
Italy,  p.  110.)  as  an  enthroned  Madonna,  dated  1513,  and  as  b» 
big  in  1843  in  its  original  place  over  the  altar  in  the  Senriti  al 
FMwro ;  If  so,  it  is  there  no  longer. 


DEVOTIONAL    SUBJECTS. 


PART  11. 
THE  VIRGIN  AND  CHILD. 

1.  LA  YERGINE  MADRE  DI  DIO.  2.  LA  M  A« 
DRE   AMABILE. 

THE  VIRGIN  AND  CHILD  ENTHRONED. 

Lat.  Sancta  Dei  Qenitrix.  Virgo  Deipara.  Ital.  La  Santissima 
Vei^e,  Madre  di  Dio.  JFV.  La  Sainte  Vierge,  M6re  de  Weu. 
Ger.  Die  Heilige  Mutter  Gottes. 

The  Virgin  in  her  maternal  character  opens 
upon  us  so  wide  a  field  of  illustration,  that  I  scarce 
know  where  to  begin  or  how  to  find  my  way,  amid 
the  crowd  of  associations  which  press  upon  me.  A 
mother  holding  her  child  in  her  arms  is  no  very 
complex  subject ;  but  like  a  very  simple  air  con- 
structed on  a  few  expressive  notes,  which,  when 
harmonized,  is  susceptible  of  a  thousand  modula- 
tions, and  variations,  and  accompaniments,  while  the 
original  motif  never  loses  its  power  to  speak  to  the 
heart ;  so  it  is  with  the  Madonna  and  Child  ;  — 
a  subject  so  consecrated  by  its  anftquity,  so  hal- 
lowed by  its  profound  significance,  so  endeared  by 
Its  associations  with  the  softest  and  deepest  of  our 
human  sympathies,  that  the  mind  has  never  wearied 


156  LEGENDS    OF    THE   MADONNA. 

of  its  repetition,  nor  the  eye  become  satiated  with 
its  beauty.  Those  who  refuse  to  give  it  the  honour 
due  to  a  reli^ous  representation,  yet  regard  it  with 
a  tender  half-unwilling  homage ;  and  when  the 
glorified  type  of  what  is  purest,  loftiest,  holiest  in 
womanhood,  stands  before  us,  arrayed  in  all  the 
majesty  and  beauty  that  accomplished  Art,  inspired 
by  faith  and  love,  could  lend  her,  and  bearing  her 
divine  Son,  rather  enthroned  than  sustained  on  her 
maternal  bosom,  "  we  look,  and  the  heart  is  in 
heaven  ! "  and  it  is  difficult,  very  difficult,  to  refrain 
from  an  Ora  pro  Nobis.  But  before  we  attempt  to 
classify  these  lovely  and  popular  effigies,  in  all  their 
infinite  variety,  from  the  enthroned  grandeur  of  the 
Queen  of  Heaven,  the  Sancta  Dei  Genitrix, 
down  to  the  peasant  mother,  swaddling  or  suckling 
her  infant,  or  to  interpret  the  innumerable  shades 
of  significance  conveyed  by  the  attendant  accesso- 
ries, we  must  endeavour  to  trace  the  representation 
itself  to  its  origin. 

This  is  difficult.  There  exists  no  proof,  I  believe, 
that  the  effigies  of  the  Virgin  with  the  infant  Christ 
in  her  arms,  which  existed  before  the  end  of  the 
fifth  century,  were  placed  before  Christian  worship- 
pers as  objects  of  veneration.  They  appear  to 
have  been  merely  groups  representing  a  particular 
incident  of  the  New  Testament,  namely,  the  ado- 
ration of  the  Magi ;  for  I  find  no  other  in  which 
the  mother  is  seated  with  the  infant  Christ,  and  thii 
is  an  historical  subject  of  which  we  shall  have  to 
speak  hereafter.     From  the  beginning  of -the  fourtk 


THE   NESTORIAN   CONTROVERSY.  157 

century,  that  Is,  from  the  time  of  Constantino  and 
fche  condemnation  of  Arius,  the  popular  reverence 
for  the  Virgin,  the  Mother  of  Christ,  had  been 
gaining  ground  ;  and  at  the  same  time  the  intro- 
duction of  images  and  pictures  into  the  places  of 
worship  and  into  the  houses  of  Christians,  as  orna- 
ments on  glass  vessels  and  even  embroidered  on 
garments  and  curtains,  became  more  and  more 
diffused,     (v.  Neander's  Church  History.) 

The  earliest  effigies  of  the  Virgin  and  Child  may 
De  traced  to  Alexandria,  and  to  Egyptian  influ- 
ences ;  and  it  is  as  easily  conceivable  that  the  time- 
consecrated  Egyptian  myth  of  Isis  and  Horus  may 
have  suggested  the  original  type,  the  outward  form 
and  the  arrangement  of  the  maternal  group,  as 
that  the  classical  Greek  types  of  the  Orpheus  and 
Apollo  should  have  furnished  the  early  symbols  of 
the  Redeemer  as  the  Good  Shepherd  ;  a  fact  which 
does  not  rest  upon  supposition,  but  of  which  the 
proofs  remain  to  us  in  the  antique  Christian  sculp- 
tures and  the  paintings  in  the  catacombs. 

The  most  ancient  Greek  figures  of  the  Virgin 
and  Child  have  perished ;  but,  as  far  as  I  can  learn, 
there  is  no  evidence  that  these  effigies  were  recog- 
nized by  the  Church  as  sacred  before  the  begin- 
ning of  the  sixth  century.  It  was  the  Nestorian 
schism  which  first  gave  to  the  group  of  the  Mother 
bearing  her  divine  Son  that  religious  importance 
and  significance  which  it  has  ever  since  retained 
tti  Catholic  countries. 

The  divinity  of  Christ  and  his  miraculous  con- 
11 


158  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MADONNA. 

ceptlon,  once  established  as  articles  of  belief,  natu- 
rally  imparted  to  Mary,  his  mother,  a  dignity  be- 
yond that  of  other  mothers :  her  Son  was  God ; 
therefore  the  title  of  Mother  of  God  was  as- 
signed to  her.  When  or  by  whom  first  brought 
into  use,  does  not  appear ;  but  about  the  year  4d0 
it  became  a  popular  designation. 

Nestorius,  patriarch  of  Constantinople  in  428,  had 
begun  by  persecuting  the  Arians ;  but  while  he  in- 
sisted that  in  Jesus  were  combined  two  persons  and 
two  natures,  he  insisted  that  the  Virgin  Mary  wa8 
the  mother  of  Christ  considered  as  man,  but  not  the 
mother  of  Christ  considered  as  God;  and  that,  con- 
sequently, all  those  who  gave  her  the  title  of  Dei 
Genitrix,  Deipara,*  were  in  error.  There  were 
many  who  adopted  these  opinions,  but  by  a  large 
portion  of  the  Church  they  were  repudiated  with 
horror,  as  utterly  subverting  the  doctrine  of  the 
mystery  of  the  Incarnation.  Cyril  of  Alexandria 
opposed  Nestorius  and  his  followers,  and  defended 
with  zealous  enthusiasm  the  claims  of  the  Virgin  to 
all  the  reverence  and  worship  due  to  her ;  for,  as 
he  argued,  the  two  natures  being  one  and  indivisi- 
ble from  the  moment  of  the  miraculous  conception, 
it  followed  that  Mary  did  indeed  bring  forth  Grod,  — 
was,  in  fact,  the  mother  of  God  ;  and  all  who  took 
away  from  her  this  dignity  and  title  were  in  error 
and  to  be  condemned  as  heretics. 

I  hope  I  shall  not  be  considered  irreverent  in 

*  The  inscription  on  the  Greek  and  Byzantine  picture  If 
usually  miP  et  {UijTTjp  Qeov). 


THE   NESTORIAN   CONTROVERSY.  159 

Ihns  plainly  and  simply  stating  the  grounds  of  this 
celebrated  schism,  with  reference  to  its  influence  on 
Art;  an  influence  incalculable,  not  only  at  the 
time,  but  ever  since  that  time  ;  of  which  the  mani- 
fold results,  traced  from  century  to  century  down 
to  the  present  hour,  would  remain  quite  unintelli- 
^le,  unless  we  clearly  understood  the  origin  and 
the  issue  of  the  controversy. 

Cyril,  who  was  as  enthusiastic  and  indomitable 
aa  Nestorius,  and  had  the  advantage  of  taking  the 
positive  against  the  negative  side  of  the  question, 
anathematized  the  doctrines  of  his  opponent,  in  a 
synod  held  at  Alexandria  in  430,  to  which  Pope 
Celestine  II.  gave  the  sanction  of  his  authority. 
The  emperor  Theodosius  II.  then  called  a  general 
council  at  Ephesus  in  431,  before  which  Nestoriua 
refused  to  appear,  and  was  deposed  from  his  dig- 
nity of  patriarch  by  the  suffrages  of  200  bishops. 
But  this  did  not  put  an  end  to  the  controversy ;  the 
etreets  of  Ephesus  were  disturbed  by  the  brawls 
And  the  pavement  of  the  cathedral  was  literally 
stained  with  the  blood  of  the  contending  parties 
Theodosius  arrested  both  the  patriarchs ;  but  after 
the  lapse  of  only  a  few  days,  Cyril  triumphed  over 
his  adversary :  with  him  triumphed  the  cause  of  the 
Virgin.  Nestorius  was  deposed  and  exiled;  hi? 
writings  condemned  to  the  flames;  but  still  the 
opinions  he  had  advocated  were  adopted  by  num- 
bers, who  were  regarded  as  heretics  by  those  who 
Jailed  themselves  "  the  Catholic  Church." 

The  long  continuance  of  this  controversy,  th« 


a60  legends  of  the  madonna. 

obstinacy  of  the  Nestorians,  the  passionate  zeal  ot 
those  who  held  the  opposite  doctrines,  and  theii 
ultimate  triumph  when  the  Western  Churches  of 
Rome  and  Carthage  declared  in  their  favour,  all 
tended  to  multiply  and  disseminate  far  and  wide 
throughout  Christendom  those  images  of  the  VirguL 
which  exhibited  her  as  Mother  of  the  GodheaoT 
At  length  the  ecclesiastical  authorities,  headed  by 
Pope  Gregory  the  Great,  stamped  them  as  ortho- 
dox :  and  as  the  cross  had  been  the  primeval  sym- 
bol which  distinguished  the  Christian  from  the 
Pagan,  so  the  image  of  the  Virgin  Mother  with 
her  Child  now  became  the  symbol  which  distin- 
guished the  Catholic  Christian  from  the  Nestorian 
Dissenter. 

Thus  it  appears  that  if  the  first  religious  repre- 
sentations of  the  Virgin  and  Child  were  not  a  con- 
sequence of  the  Nestorian  schism,  yet  the  conse- 
cration of  such  effigies  as  the  visible  form  of  a 
theological  dogma  to  the  purposes  of  worship  and 
ecclesiastical  decoration  must  date  from  the  Coun- 
cil of  Ephesus  in  431 ;  and  their  popularity  and 
general  diffusion  throughout  the  western  Churches, 
from  the  pontificate  of  Gregory  in  the  beginning 
of  the  seventh  century. 

In  the  most  ancient  of  these  effigies  which  re- 
main, we  have  clearly  only  a  symbol ;  a  half  fig- 
ure, veiled,  with  hands  outspread,  and  the  half 
figure  of  a  child  placed  against  her  bosom,  without 
any  sentiment,  without  even  the  action  of  sustain- 
bg  him.     Such  was  the  formal  but  quite  inteUigi- 


THE    VIRGIN   AND    CHILD   ENTHRONED.     161 

■}le  sig»;  but  it  soon  became  more  it  became  a 
"epresentation.  As  it  was  in  the  East  that  the 
3ause  of  the  Virgin  first  triumphed,  we  might  nat- 
urally expect  to  find  the  earliest  examples  in  the 
old  Greek  churches ;  but  these  must  have  perished 
in  the  furious  onslaught  made  by  the  Iconoclasts  on 
all  the  sacred  images.  The  controversy  between 
the  image-worshippers  and  the  image-breakers, 
which  distracted  the  East  for  more  than  a  century 
(that  is,  from  726  to  840),  did  not,  however,  ex- 
tend to  the  west  of  Europe.  We  find  the  primeval 
Byzantine  type,  or  at  least  the  exact  reproduction 
of  it,  in  the  most  ancient  western  churches,  and 
preserved  to  us  in  the  mosaics  of  Kome,  Ravenna, 
and  Capua.  These  remains  are  nearly  all  of  the 
same  date,  much  later  than  the  single  figures  of 
Christ  as  Redeemer,  and  belonging  unfortunately 
to  a  lower  period  and  style  of  art.  The  true  sig- 
nificance of  the  representation  is  not,  however,  left 
doubtful ;  for  all  the  earliest  traditions  and  inscrip- 
tions are  in  this  agreed,  that  such  effigies  were  in- 
tended as  a  confession  of  faith ;  an  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  dignity  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  as  the 
**  Sancta  Dei  Genitrix  ; "  as  a  visible  refutation 
of  "  the  infamous,  iniquitous,  and  sacrilegious  doc- 
trines of  Nestorius  the  Heresiarch."  * 

As  these  ancient  mosaic  figures  of  the  Virgin, 

•  Mostrando  quod  ipsa  Deipara  esset  contra  impiam  Nesteru 
^eresium  quam  talent  esse  iste  nefandus  Heresiarco  negabat 
Tld«  Oiampini,  and  Munter's  ''  Sinnbilder." 


.62  LEGENDS   OF    THE   MADONNA. 

enthroned  with  her  infant  Son,  were  the  precursors 
and  models  of  all  that  was  afterwards  conceived 
and  executed  in  art,  we  must  examine  them  in  de 
tail  before  proceeding  further. 

The  mosaic  of  the  cathedral  of  Capua  represents 
in  the  highest  place  the  half  figure  of  Christ  in  the 
act  of  benediction.  In  one  of  the  spandrels,  to  the 
right,  is  the  prophet  Isaiah,  bearing  a  scroll,  on 
which  is  inscribed,  Ecce  Dominus  in  fortitudine 
veniet,  et  brachium  ejus  dominibaiur^  —  "  The  Lord 
God  will  come  with  strong  hand,  and  his  arm  shall 
rule  for  him."  (Isaiah,  ch.  xl.  v.  10.)  On  the  left 
stands  Jeremiah,  also  with  a  scroll  and  the  words, 
Fortisdme^  magne,  et  potens  Dominus  exercituum  no- 
men  tibiy  —  "  The  great,  the  mighty  God,  the  Lord 
of  hosts  is  his  name."  (Jeremiah,  ch.  xxxii.  v.  18.) 
In  the  centre  of  the  vault  beneath,  the  Virgin  is 
seated  on  a  rich  throne,  a  footstool  under  her  feet ; 
she  wears  a  crown  over  her  veil.  Christ,  seated 
on  her  knee,  and  clothed,  holds  a  cross  in  his  left 
hand ;  the  right  is  raised  in  benediction.  On  one 
side  of  the  throne  stand  St.  Peter  and  St.  Stephen  ; 
on  the  other  St.  Paul  and  St.  Agatha,  to  whom  the 
church  is  dedicated.  The  Greek  monogram  of  the 
Virgin  is  inscribed  below  the  throne. 

The  next  in  date  which  remains  visible,  is  the  group 
in  the  apsis  of  S.  Maria-della-Navicella  (Rome),  ex- 
ecuted about  820,  in  the  time  of  Paschal  I.,  a  pon- 
tiflf  who  was  very  remarkable  for  the  zeal  with 
which  he  rebuilt  and  adorned  the  then  half-ruined 
•liurches  of  Rome.     The  Virgin,  of  colossal  size,  if 


THE   VIRGIN   AND   CHILD   ENTHRONED.     163 

leated  on  a  throne ;  her  robe  and  veil  are  blue 
the  infant  Christ,  in  a  gold-coloured  vest,  is  seated 
m  her  lap,  and  raises  his  hand  to  bless  the  worship- 
pers. On  each  side  of  the  Virgin  is  a  group  of 
adoring  angels ;  at  her  feet  kneels  the  diminutive 
figure  of  Pope  Paschal. 

In  the  Santa  Maria-Nova  (called  also,  "  Santa 
Francesca,"  Rome),  the  Virgin  is  seated  on  a  throne 
wearing  a  rich  crown,  cis  queen  of  heaven.  The 
infant  Christ  stands  upon  her  knee ;  she  has  one 
hand  on  her  bosom  and  sustains  him  with  the 
other. 

On  the  fa9ade  of  the  portico  of  the  S.  Maria-in- 
Trastevere  at  Rome,  the  Virgin  is  enthroned,  and 
crowned,  and  giving  her  breast  to  the  Child.  This 
mosaic  is  of  later  date  than  that  in  the  apsis,  but  is 
one  of  the  oldest  examples  of  a  representation 
which  was  evidently  directed  against  the  heretical 
doubts  of  the  Nestorians :  "  How,"  said  they,  plead- 
ing before  the  council  of  Ephesus,  "can  we  call 
him  God  who  is  only  two  or  three  months  old ;  oi 
fuppose  the  Logos  to  have  been  suckled  and  to  in- 
crease in  wisdom  ?  "  The  Virgin  in  the  act  of 
Buckling  her  (yhild,  is  a  motif  often  since  repeated 
when  the  original  significance  was  forgotten. 

In  the  chapel  of  San  Zeno  (Rome),  the  Virgin 
18  enthroned  ;  the  Child  is  seated  on  her  knee.  He 
holds  a  scroll,  on  which  are  the  words  Ego  sum  lux 
mundi,  "  I  am  the  light  of  the  world  "  the  right 
hand  is  raised  in  benediction.  A'Dove  is  the  mono* 
gram  M-P  0Y>  Mama  Mater  Dei. 


1 64      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

In  the  niosalcs,  from  the  eighth  to  the  eleventb 
century,  we  find  Art  at  a  very  low  ebb.  The  back 
ground  is  flat  gold,  not  a  blue  heaven  with  its  gold- 
en stars,  as  in  the  early  mosaics  of  the  fifth  and 
sixth  centuries.  The  figures  are  ill-proportioned  * 
the  faces  consist  of  lines  without  any  attempt  al 
form  or  expression.  The  draperies,  however,  have 
a  certain  amplitude  ;  "  and  the  character  of  a  few 
accessories,  for  example,  the  crown  on  the  Virgm'f 
head,  instead  of  the  invariable  Byzantine  veil,  be- 
trays," says  Kugler,  "a  northern  and  probably  a 
Fraiikish  influence."  The  attendant  saints,  gen- 
erally St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  stand  stifi*  and  up- 
right on  each  side. 

But  with  all  their  faults,  these  grand,  formal,  sig- 
nificant groups  ^-  or  rather  not  groups,  for  there  waa 
as  yet  no  attempt  either  at  grouping  or  variety  of  ac- 
tion, for  that  would  have  been  considered  irreverent 
— but  these  rows  of  figures,  were  the  models  of  the 
early  Italian  painters  and  mosaic- workers  in  their 
large  architectural  mosaics  and  altar-pieces  set  up 
in  the  churches  during  the  revival  of  Art,  from  the 
period  of  Cimabue  and  Andrea  Tafi  down  to  the 
latter  half  of  the  thirteenth  century :  all  partook  of 
this  lifeless,  motionless  character,  and  were,  at  the 
same  time,  touched  with  the  same  solemn  religious 
%eling.  And  long  afterwards,  when  the  arrange- 
ment became  less  formal  and  conventional,  their  in- 
fluence may  still  be  traced  in  those  noble  enthrone(f 
Madonnas,  which  represent  the  Virgin  as  queen  oi 
keaven  and  of  angels,  either  alone,  or  with  attend 


THE    V^IRGIN   AND    CHILD   ENTHRONED.     165 

Wit  saints,  and  martyrs,  and  venerable  confessors 
w^aiting  round  her  state. 

The  general  disposition  of  the  two  figures  varies 
but  little  in  the  earliest  examples  which  exist  for  us 
in  painting,  and  which  are,  in  fact,  very  much 
alike.  The  Madonna  seated  on  a  throne,  wearing 
a  red  tunic  and  a  blue  mantle,  part  of  which  is 
drawn  as  a  veil  over  her  head,  holds  the  infant 
Christ,  clothed  in  a  red  or  blue  tunic.  She  looks 
straight  out  of  the  picture  with  her  head  a  Uttle  de- 
clined to  one  side.  Christ  has  the  right  hand  raised 
m  benediction,  and  the  other  extended.  Such  were 
the  simple,  majestic,  and  decorous  effigies,  the  legit- 
imate successors  of  the  old  architectural  mosaics, 
and  usually  placed  over  the  high  altar  of  a  church 
or  chapel.  The  earliest  examples  which  have 
been  preserved  are  for  that  reason  celebrated  in 
the  history  of  Art. 

The  first  is  the  enthroned  Virgin  of  Guido  da 
Siena,  who  preceded  Cimabue  by  twenty  or  thirty 
years.  In  this  picture,  the  Byzantine  conception 
and  style  of  execution  are  adhered  to,  yet  with  a 
Boftened  sentiment,  a  touch  of  more  naturEil,  life- 
like feeling,  particularly  in  the  head  of  the  Child. 
The  expression  in  the  face  of  the  Virgin  struck  me 
as  very  gentle  and  attractive;  but  it  has  been,  1 
am  afraid,  retouched,  so  that  we  cannot  be  quite 
Bure  that  we  have  the  original  features.  Fortu- 
nately Guido  has  placed  a  date  on  his  work, 
mccxxi.,  and  also  inscribed  on  it  a  distich,  which 
ihows  that  he  felt,  with  some  consciousness  and 


166      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

ielf-complacency,  his  superiority  to  his  Byzantine 
models :  — 

'*Me  Guido  de  Senis  diebos  depinxit  amGenis 
Quern  Christies  lenis  nullis  velit  angere  pcenis.**  • 

Next  we  may  refer  to  the  two  colossal  Madonnas 
by  Cimabue,  preserved  at  Florence.  The  first, 
which  was  painted  for  the  Vallombrosian  monks  of 
the  S.  Trinity,  is  now  in  the  gallery  of  the  acad« 
emy.  It  has  all  the  stiffness  and  coldness  of  the 
Byzantine  manner.  There  are  three  adoring 
angels  on  each  side,  disposed  one  above  another, 
and  four  prophets  are  placed  below  in  separate 
niches,  half  figures,  holding  in  their  hands  their 
prophetic  scrolls,  as  in  the  old  mosaic  at  Capua,  al- 
ready described.  The  second  is  preserved  in  the 
Ruccellai  chapel,  in  the  S.  Maria  Novella,  in  its 
original  place.  In  spite  of  its  colossal  size,  and 
formal  attitude,  and  severe  style,  the  face  of  this 
Madonna  is  very  striking,  and  has  been  well  de- 
scribed as  "  sweet  and  unearthly,  reminding  you  of 
a  sibyl."  The  infant  Christ  is  also  very  fine.  There 
are  three  angels  on  each  side,  who  seem  to  sustain 
the  carved  chair  or  throne  on  which  the  Madonna 
is  seated ;  and  the  prophets,  instead  of  being  below, 
are  painted  in  small  circular  medalKons  down  each 
side  of  the  frame.  The  throne  and  the  background 
\re  covered  with  gold.    Vasari  gives  a  very  graphic 

•  The  meai^g,  for  it  is  not  easy  to  translate  literally,  la^^Mt 
JkUhpainteij  in  pleasant  days,  Guido  af  Siena^  XJpon  whose  som 
may  Christ  ieign  to  have  mercy!  " 


THE   VIRGIN   AND    CHILD   ENTHRONED.     167 

ind  animated  account  of  the  estimation  in  which 
this  picture  was  held  when  first  executed.  Its  co- 
lossal dimensions,  though  familiar  in  the  great  mo- 
Baics,  were  hitherto  unknown  in  painting ;  and  not 
less  astonishing  appeared  the  deviation,  though 
slight,  from  ugliness  and  lifelessness  into  grace 
and  nature.  "  And  thus,"  he  says,  "  it  happened 
that  this  work  was  an  object  of  so  much  admiration 
to  the  people  of  that  day,  they  having  never  seen 
anything  better,  that  it  was  carried  in  solemn  pro- 
cession, with  the  sound  of  trumpets  and  other  festal 
demonstrations,  from  the  house  of  Cimabue  to  the 
church,  he  himself  being  highly  rewarded  and  hon- 
oured for  it.  It  is  further  reported,  and  may  be 
read  in  certain  records  of  old  painters,  that,  whilst 
Cimabue  was  painting  this  picture,  in  a  garden 
near  the  gate  of  San  Pietro,  King  Charles  the 
Elder,  of  Anjou,  passed  through  Florence,  and  the 
authorities  of  the  city,  among  other  marks  of  re- 
spect, conducted  him  to  see  the  picture  of  Cimabuft. 
When  this  work  was  thus  shown  to  the  King  it  had 
not  before  been  seen  by  any  one ;  wherefore  all  the 
men  and  women  of  Florence  hastened  in  crowds 
to  admire  it,  making  all  possible  demonstrations  of 
delight.  The  inhabitants  of  the  neighbourhood,  re- 
joicing in  this  occurrence,  ever  afterwards  called 
that  place  Borgo  Allegri ;  and  tnis  name  it  has  ever 
wnce  retained,  although  in  process  of  time  it  be- 
came enclosed  within  the  walls  of  the  city.** 

In  the  strictly  devotional  representations  of  thf 


^68  LEGENDS    OF    THE   MADONNA. 

Virgin  and  Child,  she  is  invariably  seated,  tiL 
the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century ;  and  for  the 
next  hundred  years  the  innovation  of  a  standing 
figure  was  confined  to  sculpture.  An  early  ex- 
ample is  the  beautiful  statue  by  Mccold  Pisano, 
in  the  Capella  della  Spina  at  Pisa ;  and  others  will 
be  found  in  Cicognara's  work  (Storia  della  Scul- 
tura  Moderna).  The  Gothic  cathedrals,  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  also  exhibit  some  most  graceful 
examples  of  the  Madonna  in  sculpture,  standing  on 
a  pedestal,  crowned  or  veiled,  sustaining  on  her  left 
arm  the  divine  Child,  while  in  her  right  she  holds 
a  sceptre  or  perhaps  a  flower.  Such  crowned  or 
Bceptred  effigies  of  the  Virgin  were  placed  on  the 
central  pillar  which  usually  divided  the  great  door 
of  a  church  into  two  equal  parts ;  in  reference  to 
the  text,  *'  I  am  the  door  ;  by  me  if  any  man  enter 
in,  he  shall  be  saved."  In  Roman  Catholic  coun- 
tries we  find  such  effigies  set  up  at  the  corners  of 
streets,  over  the  doors  of  houses,  and  the  gates  of 
gardens,  sometimes  rude  and  coarse,  sometimes  ex- 
ceedingly graceful,  according  to  the  period  of  art 
and  skill  of  the  local  artist.  Here  the  Virgin  ap- 
pears in  her  character  of  Protectress  —  our  Lady 
of  Grace,  or  our  Lady  of  Succour. 

In  pictures,  we  rarely  find  the  Virgin  standing, 
before  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century.  An  al- 
most singular  example  is  to  be  found  in  an  old 
Greek  Madonna,  venerated  as  miraculous,  in  the 
Cathedral  of  Orvleto,  under  the  title  of  ia  Madonna 


THE   VIRGIN   AND   CHILD   ENTHRONED.     169 

a  San  Brizio,  and  to  which  is  attributed  a  fabulous 
mtiquity.  I  may  be  mistaken,  but  my  impression, 
on  seeing  it,  was,  that  it  could  not  be  older  than 
the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century.  The  crowns 
worn  by  the  Virgin  and  Christ  are  even  more  mod- 
ern, and  out  of  character  with  the  rest  of  the  paint- 
ing. In  Italy  the  pupils  of  Giotto  first  began  to 
represent  the  Virgin  standing  on  a  raised  dais. 
There  is  an  example  by  Puccio  Capanna,  engraved 
in  d*Agincourt's  work ;  but  such  figures  are  very 
uncommon.  In  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centu- 
ries they  occur  more  frequently  in  the  northern 
than  in  the  Italian  schools. 

In  the  simple  enthroned  Madonna,  variations  of 
attitude  and  sentiment  were  gradually  introduced. 
The  Virgin,  instead  of  supporting  her  Son  with 
both  hands,  embraces  him  with  one  hand,  and  with 
the  other  points  to  him ;  or  raises  her  right  hand 
to  bless  the  worshipper.  Then  the  Child  caresses 
bis  mother,  —  a  charming  and  natural  idea,  but  a 
deviation  from  the  solemnity  of  the  purely  religious 
significance ;  better  imagined,  however,  to  convey 
the  relation  between  the  mother  and  child,  than 
liie  Virgin  suckUng  her  infant,  to  which  I  have 
already  alluded  in  its  early  religious,  or  rather  con- 
troversial meaning.  It  is  not  often  that  the  en- 
throned Virgin  is  thus  occupied.  Mr.  Rogers  had 
in  his  collection  an  exquisite  example  where  the 
Virgin,  seated  in  state  on  a  magnificent  throne 
"•nder  a  Gothic  canopy  and  crowned  as  queen  of 
Veaven,  offers  her  breast  to  the  divine  Infant 


170      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

Then  the  Mother  adores  her  Child.  This  it 
properly  the  Madre  Pia  afterwards  so  beautifully 
varied.  He  lies  extended  on  her  knee,  and  she 
looks  down  upon  him  with  hands  folded  in  prayer 
or  she  places  her  hand  under  his  foot,  an  attitude 
which  originally  implied  her  acknowledgment  of 
his  sovereignty  and  superiority,  but  was  continued 
as  a  natural  motif  when  the  figurative  and  relig- 
ious meaning  was  no  longer  considered.  Some- 
times the  Child  looks  up  in  his  mother's  face  with  his 
finger  on  his  lip,  expressing  the  Verbum  sum,  "  I 
am  the  Word."  Sometimes  the  Child,  bending  for- 
wards from  his  mother's  knee,  looks  down  benignly 
on  the  worshippers,  who  are  supposed  to  be  kneel- 
ing at  the  foot  of  the  altar.  Sometimes,  but  very 
rarely  he  sleeps ;  never  in  the  earhest  examples ; 
for  to  exhibit  the  young  Redeemer  asleep,  where 
he  is  an  object  of  worship,  was  then  a  species  of 
solecism. 

When  the  enthroned  Virgin  is  represented  hold- 
ing a  book,  or  reading,  while  the  infant  Christ, 
perhaps,  lays  his  hand  upon  it  —  a  variation  in  the 
first  simple  treatment  not  earlier  than  the  end  of 
the  fourteenth  centviry,  and  very  significant  —  she 
is  then  the  Virgo  Sapientissima,  the  most  Wise 
Virgin ;  or  the  Mother  of  Wisdom,  Mater  Sapi* 
entice  ;  and  the  book  she  holds  is  the  Book  of  Wis- 
dom.*   This  is  the    proper  interpretation  where 

*L'Abb6  Crosnier,  "  Iconographle  Chr6tlenne;"  but  thf 
kook  as  an  attribute  had  another  meaning,  for  which,  see  tfai 
Introduction. 


THE    VIRGIN   AND   CHILD   ENTHRONED.     171 

tne  Virgin  is  seated  on  her  throne.  In  a  most 
beautiful  picture  by  Granacci  (Berlin  Gal.),  she  is 
thus  enthroned,  and  reading  intently ;  while  John 
the  Baptist  and  St.  Michael  stand  on  each  side. 

With  regard  to  costume,  the  colours  in  which  the 
enthroned  Virgin-Mother  was  arrayed  scarcely 
ever  varied  from  the  established  rule :  her  tunic 
was  to  be  red,  her  mantle  blue ;  red,  the  colour  of 
love,  and  religious  aspiration ;  blue,  the  colour  of 
constancy  and  heavenly  purity.  In  the  pictures  of 
the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  and  down 
to  the  early  part  of  the  fifteenth,  these  colours  are 
of  a  soft  and  delicate  tint, — rose  and  pale  azure ;  but 
afterwards,  when  powerful  effects  of  colour  became 
a  study,  we  have  the  intense  crimson,  and  the  dark 
blue  verging  on  purple.  Sometimes  the  blue  man- 
tle is  brought  over  her  head,  sometimes  she  wears  a 
white  veil,  in  other  instances  the  queenly  crown. 
Sometimes  (but  very  rarely  when  she  is  throned  as 
the  Regina  Coeli)  she  has  no  covering  or  ornament 
on  her  head ;  and  her  fair  hair  parted  on  her  brow, 
flows  down  on  either  side  in  long  luxuriant  tresses. 

In  the  Venetian  and  German  pictures,  she  ia 
often  most  gorgeously  arrayed ;  her  crown  studded 
with  jewels,  her  robe  covered  with  embroidery,  or 
Dordered  with  gold  and  pearls.  The  ornamental 
parts  of  her  dress  and  throne  were  sometimes,  to 
mcrease  the  magnificence  of  the  effect,  raised  in 
relief  and  gilt.  To  the  early  German  painters,  we 
might  too  often  apply  the  sarcasm  of  Apelles,  who 


172  LEGENDS   OF    THE   MADONNA. 

laid  of  his  rival,  that,  "  not  being  able  to  make 
Venus  beautiful  he  had  made  her  fine  ;  "  but  some 
of  the  Venetian  Madonnas  are  lovely  as  well  as 
splendid.  Gold  was  often  used,  and  in  great  pro- 
fusion, in  some  of  the  Lombard  pictures  even  of  a 
late  date ;  for  instance,  by  Carlo  Crivelli :  befoie 
the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  this  was  con- 
sidered barbaric.  The  best  Italian  painters  gave 
the  Virgin  ample,  well  disposed  drapery,  but  dis- 
pensed with  ornament.  The  star  embroidered  on 
her  shoulder,  so  often  retained  when  all  other  orna- 
ment was  banished,  expresses  her  title  "  Stella 
Maris."  I  have  seen  some  old  pictures,  in  which 
she  wears  a  ring  on  the  third  finger.  This  ex- 
presses her  dignity  as  the  Sposa  as  well  as  the 
Mother. 

With  regard  to  the  divine  Infant,  he  is,  in  the 
early  pictures,  invariably  draped,  and  it  is  not  till 
the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century  that  we  find 
him  first  partially  and  then  wholly  undraped.  In 
the  old  representations,  he  wears  a  long  tunic  with 
full  sleeves,  fastened  with  a  girdle.  It  is  sometimes 
of  gold  stufi*  embroidered,  sometimes  white,  crim- 
son, or  blue.  This  almost  regal  robe  was  after- 
wards exchanged  for  a  little  semi-transparent  shirt 
without  sleeves.  In  pictures  of  the  throned  Ma- 
donna painted  expressly  for  nunneries,  the  Child 
«,  I  believe,  always  clothed,  or  the  Mother  partly 
infolds  him  in  her  own  drapery.  In  the  Umbrian 
pictures  of  the  fifteenth  century,  the  Infant  often 
Wears  a  coral  necklace,  then   and  now  worn  by 


THE   VIRGIN   AND   CHILD    ENTHRONED.    173 

cliildren  in  that  district,  as  a  charm  against  the  evil 
Eye.  In  the  Venetian  pictures  he  has  sometimes  a 
coronal  of  pearls.  In  the  carved  and  painted  im- 
ages set  up  in  churches,  he  wears,  like  his  mother, 
a  rich  crown  over  a  curled  wig,  and  is  hung  round 
with  jewels ;  but  such  images  must  be  considered  as 
out  of  the  pale  of  legitimate  art. 

Of  the  various  objects  placed  in  the  hand  of 
the  Child  as  emblems  I  have  already  spoken,  and 
of  their  sacred  significance  as  such,  —  the  globe, 
the  book,  the  bird,  the  flower,  &c.  In  the  works 
of  the  ignorant  secular  artists  of  later  times,  these 
symbols  of  power,  or  divinity,  or  wisdom,  became 
mere  playthings ;  and  when  they  had  become  fa- 
miliar, and  required  by  custom,  and  the  old  sacred 
associations  utterly  forgotten,  we  find  them  most 
profanely  applied  and  misused.  To  give  one  ex- 
ample:—  the  bird  was  originally  placed  in  the 
hand  of  Christ  as  the  emblem  of  the  soul,  or  of  the 
spiritual  as  opposed  to  the  earthly  nature ;  in  a 
picture  by  Baroccio,  he  holds  it  up  before  a  cat,  to 
be  frightened  and  tormented.*    But  to  proceed. 

The  throne  on  which  the  Virgin  is  seated,  is,  in 
very  early  pictures,  merely  an  embroidered  cushion 
on  a  sort  of  stool,  or  a  carved  Gothic  chair,  such  as 
we  see  in  the  thrones  and  stalls  of  cathedrals.    It 

•  In  the  "  History  of  Our  Lord,  as  illustrated  in  the  Fint 
Arts,"  the  devotional  and  characteristic  eflSgies  of  the  infant 
Christ,  and  the  accompanying  attributes,  Till  be  treated  m 
ength. 

12 


174  LLOENDS    OF   THE   MADONNA. 

IS  afterwards  converted  into  a  rich  arcHtecturaj 
throne,  most  elaborately  adorned,  according  to  the 
taste  and  skill  of  the  artist.  Sometimes,  as  in  the 
early  Venetian  pictures,  it  is  hung  with  garlands  of 
fruits  and  flowers,  most  fancifully  disposed.  Some- 
times the  arabesque  ornaments  are  raised  in  relief 
and  gilt.  Sometimes  the  throne  is  curiously  painted 
to  imitate  various  marbles,  and  adorned  with  me- 
dallions and  bas-reliefs  from  those  subjects  of  the 
Old  Testament  which  have  a  reference  to  the  char- 
acter of  the  Virgin  and  the  mission  of  her  divine 
Child ;  the  commonest  of  all  being  the  Fall,  which 
rendered  a  Redeemer,  necessary.  Moses  striking 
the  rock  (the  waters  of  life)  —  the  elevation  of  the 
brazen  serpent  —  the  gathering  of  the  manna  —  or 
Moses  holding  the  broken  tablets  of  the  old  law,  — * 
all  types  of  redemption,  are  often  thus  introduced 
as  ornaments.  In  the  sixteenth  century,  when 
the  purely  religious  sentiment  had  declined,  and  a 
classical  and  profane  taste  had  infected  every  de- 
partment of  art  and  literature,  we  find  the  throne 
of  the  Virgin  adorned  with  classical  ornaments  and 
bas-reliefs  from  the  antique  remains;  as,  for  in- 
stance, the  hunt  of  Theseus  and  Hippolyta.  We 
must  then  suppose  her  throned  on  the  ruins  of 
paganism,  an  idea  suggested  by  the  old  legends, 
■which  represent  the  temples  and  statues  of  the  hea- 
then gods  as  falling  into  ruin  on  the  approach  of 
the  Virgin  and  her  Child ;  and  a  more  picturesque 
application  of  this  idea  afterwards  became  common 
H  other  subjects.     In  Garo'falo's  picture  the  throne 


THE   VIRGIN   AND    CHILD   ENTHRONED.    175 

is  adorned  with  Sphinxes  —  a  Vantique.  Andrea 
del  Sarto  has  placed  harpies  at  the  corner  of  th€> 
pedestal  of  the  throne,  in  his  famous  Madonna  di 
San  Francesco  (Florence  Gal.),  —  a  gross  fault  in 
that  otherwise  grand  and  faultless  picture ;  one  of 
those  desecrations  of  a  religious  theme  which  An 
drea,  as  devoid  of  religious  feeling  as  he  was  weak 
and  dishonest,  was  in  the  habit  of  committing. 

But  whatever  the  material  or  style  of  the  throne, 
whether  simple  or  gorgeous,  it  is  supposed  to  be  a 
heavenly  throne.  It  is  not  of  the  earth,  nor  on  the 
earth ;  and  at  first  it  was  alone  and  unapproach- 
able. The  Virgin-mother,  thus  seated  in  her  maj- 
esty, apart  from  all  human  beings,  and  in  commun- 
ion only  with  the  Infant  Godhead  on  her  knee,  or 
the  living  worshippers  who  come  to  lay  down  their 
cares  and  sorrows  at  the  foot  of  her  throne  and 
breathe  a  devout  "  Salve  Regina !  "  —  is,  through 
its  very  simplicity  and  concentrated  interest,  a 
eublime  conception.  The  effect  of  these  fig- 
ures, in  their  divine  quietude  and  loveliness,  can 
never  be  appreciated  when  hung  in  a  gallery  or 
room  with  other  pictures,  for  admiration,  or  criti- 
cism, or  comparison.  I  remember  well  suddenly 
discovering  such  a  Madonna,  in  a  retired  chapel  in 
S.  Francesco  della  Vigna  at  Venice,  —  a  picture  1 
had  never  heard  of,  by  a  painter  then  quite  un- 
known to  me,  Fra  Antonio  da  Negroponte,  a  Fran* 
ciscan  friar  who  lived  in  the  fifteenth  century. 
The  calm  dignity  of  the  attitude,  the  sweetness,  the 
ttloring  love  in  the  face  of  the  queenly  mothei  A9 


76  LEGENDS   OP   THE   MADONNA. 

mth  folded  Lands  she  looked  down  oh  the  divine 
Infant  reclining  on  her  knee,  so  struck  upon  my 
heart,  that  I  remained  for  minutes  quite  motionless. 
In  this  picture,  nothing  can  exceed  the  gorgeous 
iplendor  of  the  Virgin's  throne  and  apparel :  she 
wears  a  jewelled  crown ;  the  Child  a  coronal  of 
pearls ;  while  the  background  is  composed  entirely 
of  the  mystical  roses  twined  in  a  sort  of  treillage, 

I  remember,  too,  a  picture  by  Carlo  Crivelli,  in 
which  the  Virgin  is  seated  on  a  throne,  adorned,  in 
the  artist's  usual  style,  with  rich  festoons  of  fruit 
and  flowers.  She  is  most  sumptuously  crowned 
and  apparelled;  and  the  beautiful  Child  on  her 
knee,  grasping  her  hand  as  if  to  support  himself, 
with  the  most  naive  and  graceful  action  bends  for- 
ward and  looks  down  benignly  on  the  worshippers 
supposed  to  be  kneeling  below. 

When  human  personages  were  admitted  within 
the  same  compartment,  the  throne  was  generally 
raised  by  several  steps,  or  placed  on  a  lofty  pedes- 
tal, and  till  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  it 
was  always  in  the  centre  of  the  composition  front- 
ing the  spectator.  It  was  a  Venetian  innovation 
to  place  the  throne  at  one  side  of  the  picture,  and 
ihow  the  Virgin  in  profile  or  in  the  act  of  turning 
round.  This  more  scenic  disposition  became  after- 
W2^rds,  in  the  passion  for  variety  and  effect,  too  pal- 
pably artificial,  and  at  length  forced  and  theatricaL 

The  Italians  distinguish  between  the  Madonna  in 
Trono  and  the  Madonna  in  Gloria.  When  human 
beings,  however  sainted  and  exalted  were  admitted 


THE   VIRGIN   AND   CHILD   ENTHRONED.      177 

>?itliin  the  margin  of  the  picture,  the  divine  dignity 
Df  the  Virgin  as  Madre  di  Dio,  was  often  expressed 
by  elevating  her  wholly  above  the  earth,  and  plac- 
ing her  "  in  regions  mild  of  calm  and  serene  air," 
with  the  crescent  or  the  rainbow  under  her  feet 
This  is  styled  a  "  Madonna  in  Gloria."  It  is,  in 
fact,  a  return  to  the  antique  conception  of  the  en- 
throned Redeemer,  seated  on  a  rainbow,  sustained 
by  the  "  curled  clouds,"  and  encircled  by  a  glory 
of  cherubim.  The  aureole  of  light,  within  whioh 
the  glorified  Madonna  and  her  Child  when  in  a 
standing  position  are  often  placed,  is  of  an  oblong 
form,  called  from  its  shape  the  mandorla,  "  the  al- 
mond ; "  *  but  in  general  she  is  seated  above  in  a 
sort  of  ethereal  exaltation,  while  the  attendant  saints 
itand  on  the  earth  below.  This  beautiful  arrange- 
ment, though  often  very  sublimely  treated,  has  not 
the  simple  austere  dignity  of  the  throne  of  state . 
and  when  the  Virgin  and  Child,  as  in  the  works 
of  the  late  Spanish  and  Flemish  painters,  are 
formed  out  of  earth's  most  coarse  and  common- 
place materials,  the  aerial  throne  of  floating  fantas- 
tic clouds  suggests  a  disagreeable  discord,  a  fear 
leat  the  occupants  of  heaven  should  fall  on  the 
heads  of  their  worshippers  below.  Not  so  the  Vlr- 
gins  of  the  old  Italians ;  for  they  look  so  divinely 
ethereal  that  they  seem  uplifted  by  their  own  8pir- 
Ituallty :  not  even  the  air-borne  clouds  are  needed 
to  sustain  them.  They  have  no  touch  of  earth  or 
IKiTth's  material  beyond  the  human  form;  their 
•  Or  the  •'*  Vescica  Pisces  "  by  Lord  Lindsay  and  others. 


178  LEGENDS   OF   THE   MADONNA. 

proper  place  Is  the  seventh  heaven  ;  and  there  they 
repose,  a  presence  and  a  power  —  a  personification 
of  infinite  mercy  sublimated  by  innocence  and 
purity ;  and  thence  they  look  down  on  their  wor* 
shippers  and  attendants,  while  these  gaze  upwards 
**  with  looks  commercing  with  the  skies/* 

And  now  of  these  angelic  and  sainted  accesso- 
ries, however  placed,  we  must  speak  at  length ;  for 
much  of  the  sentiment  and  majesty  of  the  Ma- 
donna effigies  depend  on  the  proper  treatment  of 
the  attendant  figures,  and  on  the  meaning  they 
convey  to  the  observer. 

The  Virgin  is  entitled,  by  authority  of  the  Church, 
queen  of  angels,  of  prophets,  of  apostles,  of  mar- 
tyrs, of  virgins,  and  of  confessors ;  and  from  among 
these  her  attendants  are  selected. 

Angels  were  first  admitted,  waiting  immediately 
round  her  chair  of  state.  A  signal  instance  is  the 
group  of  the  enthroned  Madonna,  attended  by  the 
four  archangels,  as  we  find  it  in  the  very  ancient 
mosaic  in  Sant-Apollinare-Novo,  at  Aavenna.  As 
the  belief  in  the  superior  power  and  sanctity  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin  grew  and  spread,  the  angels  no 
longer  attended  her  as  princes  of  the  heavenly 
host,  guardians,  or  councillors;  they  became,  in 
he  early  pictures,  adoring  angels,  sustaining  her 
throne  on  each  side,  or  holding  up  the  embroidered 
curtain  which  forms  the  background.  In  the  Ma- 
ionna  by  Cimabue,  which,  if  it  be  not  the  earlioirf 


THE   VIRGIN   AND   CHII  D.  179 

*fter  the  revival  of  art,  was  one  of  the  first  in 
which  the  Byzantine  manner  was  softened  and 
Italianized,  we  have  six  grand,  solemn-looking  an 
gels,  three  on  each  side  of  the  throne,  arranged 
perpendicularly  one  above  another.  The  Virgin 
herself  is  of  colossal  proportions,  far  exceeding 
them  in  size,  and  looking  out  of  her  frame,  "  large 
as  a  goddess  of  the  antique  world."  In  the  other 
Madonna  in  the  gallery  of  the  academy,  we  have 
the  same  arrangement  of  the  angels.  Giotto  di- 
versified this  arrangement.  He  placed  the  angela 
kneeling  at  the  foot  of  the  throne,  making  music, 
and  waiting  on  their  divine  Mistress  as  her  celestial 
choristers,  —  a  service  the  more  fitting  because  she 
was  not  only  queen  of  angels,  but  patroness  of 
music  and  minstrelsy,  in  which  character  she  haa 
St.  Cecilia  as  her  deputy  and  delegate.  This  ac- 
companiment of  the  choral  angels  was  one  of  the 
earliest  of  the  accessories,  and  continued  down  to 
the  latest  times.  They  are  most  particularly  lovely 
m  the  pictures  of  the  fifteenth  century.  TTiey 
kneel  and  strike  their  golden  lutes,  or  stand  and 
Bound  their  silver  clarions,  or  sit  like  beautiful 
winged  children  on  the  steps  of  the  throne,  and 
pipe  and  sing  as  if  their  spirits  were  overflowing 
with  harmony  as  well  as  love  and  adoration.*  In 
a  curious  picture  of  the  enthroned  Madonna  and 
Child  (Berlin  Gal.),  by  Gentil  Fabriano,  a  tree 
rises  on  each  side  of  the  throne,  on  which  little 

♦  As  in  the  picture  by  Lo  Spagna  in   our  Nationa   Qallery 
iro.282. 


i80  LEGENDS    OF    THE   MADONNA. 

red  seiaphim  are  perched  like  birds,  singing  and 
playing  on  musical  instruments.  In  later  times, 
they  play  and  sing  for  the  solace  of  the  di- 
vine Infant,  not  merely  adoring,  but  minister- 
ing: but  these  angels  ministrant  belong  to  an- 
other class  of  pictures.  Adoration,  not  service, 
was  required  by  the  divine  Child  and  his  mother, 
when  they  were  represented  simply  in  their  divine 
character,  and  placed  far  beyond  earthly  wants  and 
earthly  associations. 

There  are  examples  where  the  angels  in  attend* 
ance  bear,  not  harps  or  lutes,  but  the  attributes  of 
the  Cardinal  Virtues,  as  in  an  altar-piece  by  Tad- 
deo  Gaddi  at  Florence.  (Santa  Croce,  Rinucoini 
Chapel.) 

The  partriarchs,  prophets,  and  sibyls,  all  the 
personages,  in  fact,  who  lived  under  the  old  laWL^ 
when  forming,  in  a  picture  or  altar-piece,  part  of 
the  cortege  of  the  throned  Virgin,  as  types,  or 
prophets,  or  harbingers  of  the  Incarnation,  are  on 
the  outside  of  that  sacred  compartment  wherein 
she  is  seated  with  her  Child.  This  was  the  case 
with  all  the  human  personages  down  to  the  end  of 
the  thirteenth  century ;  and  after  that  time,  I  find 
the  characters  of  the  Old  Testament  still  excluded 
from  the  groups  immediately  round  her  throne. 
Their  place  was  elsewhere  allotted,  at  a  more  re- 
Bpectful  distance.  The  only  exceptions  I  can  re- 
member, are  King  David  and  the  patriarch  Job 
and  these  only  in  late  pictures,  where  David  doea 
tot  appear  as  prophet,  but  as  the  ancestor  of  thf 


THE   VIRGIN   AND   CHILD.  18l 

Redeemer ;   and  Job,  only  at  Venice,  where  he  is 
A  patron  saint. 

The  four  evangelists  and  the  twelve  apostles  are, 
in  their  collective  character  in  relation  to  the  Vir- 
gin, treated  like  the  prophets,  and  placed  around 
the  altar-piece.  Where  we  find  one  or  more  of 
the  evangelists  introduced  into  the  group  of  attend- 
ant "  Sanctities "  on  each  side  of  her  throne,  it  is 
not  in  their  character  of  evangelists,  but  rather  aa 
patron  saints.  Thus  St.  Mark  appears  constantly 
in  the  Venetian  pictures ;  but  it  is  as  the  patron 
and  protector  of  Venice.  St.  John  the  Evange- 
list, a  favourite  attendant  on  the  Virgin,  is  near  her 
in  virtue  of  his  peculiar  relation  to  her  and  to 
Christ ;  and  he  is  also  a  popular  patron  saint.  St. 
Luke  and  St.  Matthew,  unless  they  be  patrons  of 
the  particular  locality,  or  of  the  votary  who  pre- 
sents the  picture,  never  appear.  It  is  the  same 
with  the  apostles  in  their  collective  character  as 
Buch ;  we  find  them  constantly,  as  statues,  ranged 
on  each  side  of  the  Virgin,  or  as  separate  figures. 
Thus  they  stand  over  the  screen  of  St.  Mark's,  at 
Venice,  and  also  on  the  carved  frames  of  the  altar- 
pieces  ;  but  either  from  their  number,  or  some  other 
cause,  they  are  seldom  grouped  round  the  en- 
throned Virgin. 

It  is  St.  John  the  Baptist  who,  next  to  the 
angels,  seems  to  have  been  the  first  admitted  to  a 
propinquity  with  the  divine  persons.  In  Greek 
•rt,  he  is  himself  an  angel,  a  messenger,  and  oflen 


182      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

represented  with  wings.  He  was  especially  vener- 
ated in  the  Greek  Church  in  his  character  of  pre- 
cursor of  the  Kedeemer,  and,  as  such,  almost  indis^ 
pensable  in  every  sacred  group ;  and  it  is,  perhaps, 
to  the  early  influence  of  Greek  art  on  the  selec- 
tion and  arrangement  of  the  accessory  personages, 
that  we  owe  the  preeminence  of  John  the  Bap- 
tist.  One  of  the  most  graceful,  and  appropriate, 
and  familiar  of  all  the  accessory  figures  grouped 
with  the  Virgin  and  Child,  is  that  of  the  young  St. 
John  (called  in  Italian  San  Giovannino,  and  in 
Spanish  San  Juanito).  When  first  introduced,  we 
find  him  taking  the  place  of  the  singing  or  piping 
angels  in  front  of  the  throne.  He  generally  stands, 
"  clad  in  his  raiment  of  camel's  hair,  having  a  gir- 
dle round  his  loins,"  and  in  his  hand  a  reed  cross, 
round  which  is  bound  a  scroll  with  the  words  "  Ecce 
Agnus  Dei "  ("  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God"),  while 
with  his  finger  he  points  up  to  the  enthroned  group 
above  him,  expressing  the  text  from  St.  Luke  (c. 
ii.),  "And  thou.  Child,  shalt  be  called  the 
Prophet  of  the  Highest,"  as  in  Francia's  picture  in 
our  National  Gallery.  Sometimes  he  bears  a  lamb 
in  his  arms,  the  Ecce  Agnus  Dei  in  form  instead 
of  words. 

The  introduction  of  the  young  St.  John  becomes 
more  and  more  usual  from  the  beginning  of  the 
BLxteenth  century.  In  later  pictures,  a  touch  of  the 
dramatic  is  thrown  into  the  arrangement :  instead 
of  being  at  the  foot  of  the  throne,  he  is  placed 
it;   as  where  the  Virgin  is  throned  on 


THE   VIRGIN  AND   CHIL1>.  183 

lofty  pedestal,  and  she  lays  one  hand  on  the  head 
of  the  little  St.  John,  while  with  the  other  she 
itrains  her  Child  to  her  bosom ;  or  where  the  infant 
Christ  and  St.  John,  standing  at  her  knee,  embrace 
each  other  —  a  graceful  incident  in  a  Holy  Fam- 
ily, but  in  the  enthroned  Madonna  it  impairs  the 
religious  conception ;  it  places  St.  John  too  much 
on  a  level  with  the  Saviour,  who  is  here  in  that 
divine  character  to  which  St.  John  bore  witness, 
but  which  he  did  not  share.  It  is  very  unusual  to 
see  John  the  Baptist  in  his  childish  character  glori- 
fied in  heaven  among  the  celestial  beings;  I  re- 
member but  one  instance,  in  a  beautiful  picture  by 
Bonifazio.  (Acad.  Venice.)  The  Virgin  is  seated 
in  glory,  with  her  Infant  on  her  knee,  and  encircled 
by  cherubim;  on  one  side  an  angel  approaches 
with  a  basket  of  flowers  on  his  head,  and  she  is  in 
act  to  take  these  flowers  and  scatter  them  on  the 
saints  below,  —  a  new  and  graceful  motif:  on  the 
other  side  sits  John  the  Baptist  as  a  boy  about 
twelve  years  of  age.  The  attendant  saints  below 
are  St.  Peter,  St.  Andrew,  St.  Thomas  holding  the 
girdle,*  St,  Francis,  and  St.  Clara,  all  looking  up 
with  ecstatic  devotion,  except  St.  Clara,  who  looks 
down  with  a  charming  modesty. 

In  early  pictures,  St.  Anna,  the  mother  of  the 
Virgin,  is  very  seldom  introduced,  because  in  such 
sublime  and  mystical  representations  of  the  Vergine 

*  St.  Thomas  Is  called  in  the  catalogue,  James,  king  of  Ay 


184      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MAIONNA. 

Dea^  whatever  connected  her  with  realities,  or  with 
her  earthly  genealogy,  is  suppressed.  But  from  the 
middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  St.  Anna  became, 
from  the  current  legends  of  the  history  of  the  Vir- 
gin, an  important  saint,  and  when  introduced  into 
the  devotional  groups,  which,  however,  is  seldom,  it 
Beems  to  have  embarrassed  the  painters  how  to  dis- 
pose of  her.  She  could  not  well  be  placed  below 
her  daughter ;  she  could  not  be  placed  above  her. 
It  is  a  curious  proof  of  the  predominance  of  the 
feminine  element  throughout  these  representations, 
that  while  St.  Joachim  the  father  and  St.  Jo- 
seph the  husband  of  the  Virgin,  are  either  omitted 
altogether,  or  are  admitted  only  in  a  subordinate 
and  inferior  position,  St.  Anna,  when  she  does 
appear,  is  on  an  equality  with  her  daughter. 
There  is  a  beautiful  example,  and  apt  for  illustra- 
tion, in  the  picture  by  Francia,  in  our  National 
Gallery,  where  St.  Anna  and  the  Virgin  are  seated 
together  on  the  same  throne,  and  the  former  pre- 
sents the  apple  to  her  divine  Grandson.  I  remem- 
ber, too,  a  most  graceful  instance  where  St.  Anna 
stands  behind  and  a  little  above  the  throne,  with 
her  hands  placed  affectionately  on  the  shoulders  of 
the  Virgin,  and  raises  her  eyes  to  heaven  as  if  in 
thanksgiving  to  God,  who  through  her  had  brought 
salvation  into  the  world.  Where  the  Virgin  is 
seated  on  the  knees  of  St.  Anna,  it  is  a  still  later 
innovation.  There  is  such  a  group  in  a  picture  in 
the  Louvre,  after  a  famous  cartoon  by  Leonardo  da 
Vinci,  which,  in  spite  of  its  celebrity,  has  alwayi 


THE   VIRGIN   AND   CHILD.  185 

uppeared  to  me  very  fantastic  and  irreverent  in 
treatment.  There  is  also  a  fine  print  by  Carraglio, 
in  which  the  Virgin  and  Child  are  sustained  on  the 
knees  of  St.  Anna :  under  her  feet  lies  the  dragon. 
St.  Roch  and  St.  Sebastian  on  each  side,  and  the 
dead  dragon,  show  that  this  is  a  votive  subject,  an 
expression  of  thanksgiving  after  the  cessation  of 
a  plague.  The  Germans,  who  were  fond  of  this 
group,  imparted,  even  to  the  most  religious  treat- 
ment, a  domestic  sentiment. 

The  earliest  instance  I  can  point  to  of  the  en- 
throned Virgin  attended  by  both  her  parents,  is  by 
Vivarini  (Acad.  Venice)  :  St.  Anna  is  on  the  right 
of  the  throne ;  St.  Joachim,  in  the  act  of  reverently 
removing  his  cap,  stands  on  the  left ;  more  in  front 
is  a  group  of  Franciscan  saints. 

The  introduction  of  St.  Anna  into  a  Holy  Fam- 
ily, as  part  of  the  domestic  group,  is  very  appro- 
priate and  graceful ;  but  this  of  course  admits,  and 
indeed  requires,  a  wholly  different  sentiment.  The 
same  remark  applies  to  St.  Joseph,  who,  in  the 
earlier  representations  of  the  enthroned  Virgin,  is 
carefully  excluded ;  he  appears,  I  think,  first  in 
the  Venetian  pictures.  There  is  an  example  in  a 
splendid  composition  by  Paul  Veronese.  (Acad. 
Venice.)  The  Virgin,  on  a  lofty  throne,  holds  the 
Child ;  both  !iook  down  on  the  worshippers ;  St 
Joseph  is  partly  seen  behind  leaning  on  his  crutch. 
Round  the  throne  stand  St.  John  the  Baptist,  St. 
Justina,  as  patroness  of  Venice,  and  St.  George 
Bt  Jerome  is  on  the  other  side  in  deep  meditation 


186  LEGENDS    OF    THE   MADONXA. 

A  magnificent  picture,  quite  sumptuous  in  coloui 
and  arrangement,  and  yet  so  solemn  and  so  calm !  * 

The  composition  by  Michael  Angelo,  styled  a 
"  Holy  Family,"  is,  though  singular  in  treatment, 
certainly  devotional  in  character,  and  an  enthroned 
Virgin.  She  is  seated  in  the  centre,  on  a  raised 
architectural  seat,  holding  a  book ;  the  infant  Christ 
slumbers,  —  books  can  teach  him  nothing,  and  to 
make  him  reading  is  unorthodox.  In  the  back- 
ground on  one  side,  St.  Joseph  leans  over  a  balus- 
trade, as  if  in  devout  contemplation ;  a  young  St. 
John  the  Baptist  leans  on  the  other  side.  The 
grand,  mannered,  symmetrical  treatment  is  very 
remarkable  and  characteristic.  There  are  many 
engravings  of  this  celebrated  composition.  In  one 
of  them,  the  book  held  by  the  Virgin  bears  on  one 
side  the  text  in  Latin,  ''^Blessed  art  thou  among 
women,  and  Messed  is  C^e  fruit  of  thy  womh.'*  On 
the  opposite  page,  "  Blessed  />/>  God,  who  hqs  re- 
garded the  low  esta/e  of  his  hand-maiden.  For, 
behold,  from  henceforth  all  generations  shall  call  me 
blessed." 

While  the  young  St.  John  is  admitted  into  such 
close  companionship  with  the  enthroned  Madonna, 
his  mother  Elizabeth,  so  commonly  and  beautifully 
introduced  into  the  Holy  Families,  is  almost  uni- 
formly excluded. 

*  There  is  another  example  by  Paul  Veronese,  similar  It 
iharacter  and  treatment,  in  which  St.  John  and  St.  Joseph  arf 
311  the  throne  with  the  Virgin  and  Child,  and  St.  Catherine  an4 
Bt.  Antony  below. 


THE   VIRGIN   AND   CHILD.  187 

Next  in  order,  as  accessory  figures,  appear  some 
•ne  or  two  or  more  of  the  martyrs,  confessors,  and 
virgin  patronesses,  with  their  respective  attributes, 
either  placed  in  separate  niches  and  compartments 
on  each  side,  or,  when  admitted  within  the  sacred 
precincts  where  sits  the  Queenly  Virgin  Mother 
and  her  divine  Son,  standing,  in  the  manner  of 
councillors  and  officers  of  state  on  solemn  occBr 
sions,  round  an  earthly  sovereign,  all  reverently 
calm  and  still ;  till  gradually  this  solemn  formality, 
this  isolation  of  the  principal  characters,  gave  way 
to  some  sentiment  which  placed  them  in  nearer 
relation  to  each  other,  and  to  the  divine  person- 
ages. Occasional  variations  of  attitude  and  action 
were  introduced  —  at  first,  a  rare  innovation ;  ere 
long,  a  custom,  a  fashion.  For  instance;  —  the 
doctors  turn  over  the  ICrti^es  of  their  great  books  as 
if  seeking  for  the  written  testimonies  to  the  truth  of 
the  mysterious  Incarnaticrfi  made  visible  in  the  per- 
sons of  the  Mother  and  Child ;  the  confessors  con- 
template the  radiant  group  with  rapture,  and  seem 
ready  to  burst  forth  in  hymns  of  praise  ;  the  mar- 
tyrs kneel  in  adoration ;  the  virgins  gracefully 
ofier  their  victorious  palms  :  and  thus  the  painters 
of  the  best  periods  of  art  contrived  to  animate  their 
sacred  groups  without  rendering  them  too  dramatic 
and  too  secular. 

Such,  then,  was  the  general  arrangement  of  that 
religious  subject  which  is  technically  styled  "  The 
Madonna  enthroned  and  attended  by  Saints."  The 
selection  and  the  relative  position  of  these  angelia 


188  LEGENDS   OF   THE   MADONNA. 

iind  saintly  accessories  were  not,  as  I  have  already 
Dbserved,  matters  of  mere  taste  or  caprice  ;  and  an 
attentive  observation  of  the  choice  and  disposition 
of  the  attendant  figures  will  often  throw  light  on 
the  original  significance  of  such  pictures,  and  the 
circumstances  under  which  they  were  painted. 

Shall  I  attempt  a  rapid  classification  and  inter- 
pretation of  these  infinitely  varied  groups  ?  It  ia 
a  theme  which  might  well  occupy  volumes  rather 
dian  pages,  and  which  requires  far  more  antiqua- 
rian learning  and  historical  research  than  I  can  pre- 
tend to ;  still  by  giving  the  result  of  my  own  obser- 
vations in  some  few  instances,  it  may  be  possible  so 
to  excite  the  attention  and  fancy  of  the  reader,  as 
to  lead  him  further  on  the  same  path  than  I  have 
myself  been  able  to  venture. 

We  can  trace,  in  a  large  class  of  these  pictures, 
a  general  religious  significance,  common  to  all  pe- 
riods, all  localities,  all  circumstances ;  while  in 
another  class,  the  interest  is  not  only  particular 
and  local,  but  sometimes  even  personal. 

To  the  first  class  belongs  the  antique  and  beau- 
tiful group  of  the  Virgin  and  Child,  enthroned  be- 
tween the  two  great  archangels,  St.  Michael  and 
St.  Gabriel.  It  is  probably  the  most  ancient  of 
these  combinations :  we  find  it  in  the  earliest 
Greek  art,  in  the  carved  ivory  diptychs  of  the 
eighth  and  ninth  centuries,  in  the  old  Greco-Italian 
pictures,  in  the  ecclesiastical  sculpture  and  stained 
glass  of  from  the  twelfth  to  the  fifteenth  century 


THE   VIRGIN   AND    CHILD.  189 

{n  the  most  ancient  examples,  the  two  angels  are 
leen  standing  on  each  side  of  the  Madonna,  not 
worshipping,  but  with  their  sceptres  and  attributes, 
as  princes  of  the  heavenly  host,  attending  on  her 
who  is  queen  of  angels ;  St.  Gabriel  as  the  angel 
of  birth  and  life,  St.  Michael  as  the  angel  of  Death, 
that  is,  in  the  Christian  sense,  of  deliverance  and 
immortality.  There  is  an  instance  of  this  antique 
treatment  in  a  small  Greek  picture  in  the  Waller- 
Btein  collection.     (Now  at  Kensington  Palace.) 

In  later  pictures,  St.  Gabriel  seldom  appears  ex- 
cept as  the  Angela  Annunziatore  ;  but  St.  Michael 
very  frequently.  Sometimes,  as  conqueror  over  sin 
and  representative  of  the  Church  militant,  he  stands 
with  his  foot  on  the  dragon  with  a  triumphant  air ; 
or,  kneeling,  he  presents  to  the  infant  Christ  the 
scales  of  eternal  justice,  as  in  a  famous  picture  by 
Leonardo  da  Vinci.  It  is  not  only  because  of  hia 
popularity  as  a  patron  saint,  and  of  the  number  of 
churches  dedicated  to  him,  that  he  is  so  frequently 
introduced  into  the  Madonna  pictures ;  according 
to  the  legend,  he  was  by  Divine  appointment  the 
guardian  of  the  Virgin  and  her  Son  while  they 
sojourned  on  earth.  The  angel  Raphael  leading 
Tobias  always  expresses  protection,  and  especially 
protection  to  the  young.  Tobias  with  his  fish  was 
an  early  type  of  baptism.  There  are  many  beau- 
tiful examples.  In  Raphael's  "Madonna  dell' 
Pesce"  (Madrid  Gal.)  he  is  introduced  as  the 
patron  saint  of  the  painter,  but  not  without  a  ref- 
erence to  more  sacred  meaning,  that  of  the  guar* 
13 


190  -r.^GENDS   OF   THE    MADONNA. 

dian  spirit  of  all  humanity.  The  warlike  figure  of 
St  Michael,  and  the  benign  St.  Raphael,  are  thus 
represented  as  celestial  guardians  in  the  beautiful 
picture  by  Peruglno  now  in  our  National  Gallery. 
(No.  288.) 

There  are  instances  of  the  three  archangels  all 
standing  together  below  the  glorified  Virgin:  St 
Michael  in  the  centre  with  his  foot  on  the  prostrate 
fiend;  St.  Gabriel  on  the  right  presents  his  lily; 
and,  on  the  left,  the  protecting  angel  presents  his 
human  charge,  and  points  up  to  the  source  of  sal- 
vation.    (In  an  engraving  after  Giulio  Romano.) 

The  Virgin  between  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  is 
also  an  extremely  ancient  and  significant  group. 
It  appears  in  the  old  mosaics.  As  chiefs  of  the 
apostles  and  joint  founders  of  the  Church,  St. 
Peter  and  St.  Paul  are  prominent  figures  in  many 
groups  and  combinations,  particularly  in  the  altar- 
pieces  of  the  Roman  churches,  and  those  painted 
for  the  Benedictine  communities. 

The  Virgin,  when  supported  on  each  side  by  St. 
Peter  and  St.  Paul,  must  be  understood  to  repre- 
eent  the  personified  Church  between  her  two  great 
founders  and  defenders ;  and  this  relation  is  ex- 
pressed in  a  very  poetical  manner,  when  St.  Peter, 
kneeling,  receives  the  allegorical  keys  from  the 
hand  of  the  infant  Saviour.  There  are  some  curi- 
ous and  beautiful  instances  of  this  combination  of  a 
•ignificant  action  with  the  utmost  solemnity  of  treat- 
ment; for  example,  in  that  very  extraordinary  FraD- 


THE   VIRGIN   AND   CHILD.  19l 

eiscan  altar-piece,  by  Carlo  Crivelli,  lately  purchased 
by  Lord  Ward,  where  St.  Peter,  having  deposited 
his  papal  tiara  at  the  foot  of  the  throne,  kneeling 
receives  the  great  symbolical  keys.  And  again, 
in  a  fine  picture  by  Andrea  Meldula,  where  the 
Virgin  and  Child  are  enthroned,  and  the  infant 
Christ  delivers  the  keys  to  Peter,  who  stands,  but 
with  a  most  reverential  air;  on  the  other  side  of 
the  throne  is  St.  Paul  with  his  book  and  the  sword 
held  upright.  There  are  also  two  attendant  angels. 
On  the  border  of  the  mantle  of  the  Virgin  is  in- 
Bcribed  "  Ave  Maria  gratia  plena."  * 

I  do  not  recollect  any  instance  in  which  the  four 
evangelists  as  such,  or  the  twelve  apostles  in  their 
collective  character,  wait  round  the  throne  of  the 
Virgin  and  Child,  though  one  or  more  of  the  evan- 
gelists and  one  or  more  of  the  apostles  perpetually 
occur. 

The  Virgin  between  St.  John  the  Baptist  and 
St.  John  the  Evangelist,  is  also  a  very  significant 
and  beautiful  combination,  and  one  very  frequently 
met  with.  Though  both  these  saints  were  as  chil- 
dren contemporary  with  the  child  Christ,  and  so 
represented  in  the  Holy  Families,  in  these  solemn 
ideal  groups  they  are  always  men.  The  first  St 
John  expresses  regeneration  by  the  rite  of  baptism 


*  In  the  collection  of  Mr.  Bromley,  of  Wootton.  This  pic- 
ture is  otherwise  remarkable  as  the  only  authenticated  work  of 
ATery  rare  painter.  It  bears  his  signature,  and  th^  styl* 
Indicates  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  aa    the   probablt 


192      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

the  Becond  St.  John,  distinguished  as  Theologus^ 
*•  the  Divine,"  stands  with  his  sacramental  cup,  ex- 
pressing regeneration  by  faith.  The  former  was 
the  precursor  of  the  Saviour,  the  first  who  pro- 
claimed him  to  the  world  as  such  ;  the  latter  beheld 
the  vision  in  Patmos,  of  the  Woman  in  travail  pur- 
sued by  the  dragon,  which  is  interpreted  in  refer- 
ence to  the  Virgin  and  her  Child.  The  group  thus 
brought  into  relation  is  full  of  meaning,  and,  from 
the  variety  and  contrast  of  character,  full  of  poetical 
and  artistic  capabilities.  St.  John  the  Baptist  is 
usually  a  man  about  thirty,  with  wild  shaggy  hair 
and  meagre  form,  so  draped  that  his  vest  of  camel*8 
hair  is  always  visible  ;  he  holds  his  reed  cross.  St. 
John  the  Evangelist  is  generally  the  young  and 
graceful  disciple ;  but  in  some  instances  he  is  the 
venerable  seer  of  Patmos, 

**  Whose  beard  descending  sweeps  his  aged  breast." 

There  is  an  example  in  one  of  the  finest  pictures 
by  Perugino.  The  Virgin  is  throned  above,  and 
surrounded  by  a  glory  of  seraphim,  with  many- 
coloured  wings.  The  Child  stands  on  her  knee. 
In  the  landscape  below  are  St.  Michael,  St.  Cathe- 
rine, St.  ApoUonia,  and  St.  John  the  Evangelist  as 
the  aged  prophet  with  white  flowing  beard.  (Bo- 
logna Acad.) 

The  Fathers  of  the  Church,  as  interpreters  and 
defenders  of  the  mystery  of  the  Incarnation,  ar«» 
rery  significantly  placed   near  the  thrcne  of  tht 


THE    VIRGIN   AND   CHILD.  198 

Virgin  and  Child.  In  Western  art,  the  Latin  doe- 
tors,  St.  Jerome,  St.  Ambrose,  St.  Augustine,  and 
St.  Gregory,  have  of  course  the  preeminence.  (v 
Sacred  and  Legend.  Art.) 

The  effect  produced  by  these  aged,  venerable, 
bearded  dignitaries,  with  their  gorgeous  robes  and 
mitres  and  flowing  beards,  in  contrast  with  the  soft 
limplicity  of  the  divine  Mother  and  her  Infant,  is. 
In  the  hands  of  really  great  artists,  wonderfully  fine. 
There  is  a  splendid  example,  by  Vivarini  (Venice 
Acad.)  ;  the  old  doctors  stand  two  on  each  side  of 
the  throne,  where,  under  a  canopy  upborne  by  an^ 
gels,  sits  the  Virgin,  sumptuously  crowned  and  at- 
tired, and  looking  most  serene  and  goddess-like ; 
while  the  divine  Child,  standing  on  her  knee,  extends 
his  little  hand  in  the  act  of  benediction.  Of  this 
picture  I  have  already  given  a  very  detailed  descrip- 
tion. (Sacred  and  Legend.  Art.)  Another  exam- 
ple, a  grand  picture  by  Moretto,  now  in  the  Museum 
at  Frankfort,  I  have  also  described.  There  is  here 
a  touch  of  the  dramatic  sentiment ;  —  the  Virgin  is 
tenderly  caressing  her  Child,  while  two  of  the  old 
doctors,  St.  Ambrose  and  St.  Augustine,  stand  rev- 
erently on  each  side  of  her  lofty  throne  ;  St.  Greg- 
ory sits  on  the  step  below,  reading,  and  St.  Jerome 
bends  over  and  points  to  a  page  in  his  book.  The 
Virgin  is  not  sufficiently  dignified;  she  has  too 
much  the  air  of  a  portrait ;  and  the  action  of  the 
Child  is,  also,  though  tender,  rather  unsuited  to  the 
lignificance  of  the  rest  of  the  group ;  but  the  pic- 
ture is,  on  the  whole,  magnificent.     There  is  anoth- 


iM  LEGENDS    OF    THE   MADONNA. 

Br  fine  example  of  the  four  doctors  attending  on  ih€ 
Virgin,  in  the  Milan  Gallery.* 

Sometimes  not  four,  but  two  only  of  these  Fa- 
thers, appear  in  combination  with  other  figures,  and 
the  choice  would  depend  on  the  locality  and  other 
circumstances.  But,  on  the  whole,  we  rarely  find  a 
group  of  personages  assembled  round  the  throne  of 
the  Virgin  which  does  not  include  one  or  more  of 
these  venerable  pillars  of  the  Church.  St.  Am- 
brose appears  most  frequently  in  the  Milanese  pic- 
tures :  St.  Augustine  and  St.  Jerome,  as  patriarchs 
of  monastic  orders,  are  very  popular :  St.  Gregory, 
I  think,  is  more  seldom  met  with  than  the  others. 

The  Virgin,  with  St.  Jerome  and  St.  Catherine, 
the  patron  saints  of  theological  learning,  is  a  fre- 
quent group  in  all  monasteries,  but  particularly  in 
the  churches  and  houses  of  the  Jeronimites.  A 
beautiful  example  is  the  Madonna,  by  Francia. 
(Borghese  Palace,  Rome.)  St.  Jerome,  with  Mary 
Magdalene,  also  a  frequent  combination,  expresses 
*heological  learning  in  union  with  religious  peni- 
tence and  humility.  Correggio's  famous  picture  is 
an  example,  where  St  Jerome  on  one  side  present* 
his  works  in  defence  of  the  Church,  and  his  trans* 
lation  of  the  Scriptures  ;  while,  on  the  other,  Mary 
Magdalene,  bending  down  devoutly,  kisses  the  feet 
of  the  infant  Christ.     (Parma.) 

Of  all  the  attendants  on  the  Virgin  and  Child 

*  In  a  votive  picture  of  the  Milanese  School,  dedicated  by  Lv 
loTioo  Sfojrza  II  Mora. 


THE    VIRGIN   AND   CniLD.  108 

Ihe  most  popular  is,  perhaps,  St.  Catherine ;  aiio 
the  "  Marriage  of  St.  Catherine,**  as  a  religious 
mystery,  is  made  to  combine  with  the  most  solemn 
and  fbrmal  arrangement  of  the  other  attendant  fig- 
ures. The  enthroned  Virgin  presides  over  the 
mystical  rite.  This  was,  for  intelligible  reasons,  a 
favourite  subject  in  nunneries,* 

In  a  picture  by  Garofalo,  the  Child,  bending 
from  his  mother's  knee,  places  a  golden  crown  on 
the  head  of  St.  Catherine  as  Sposa ;  on  each  side 
stand  St.  Agnes  and  St.  Jerome. 

In  a  picture  by  Carlo  Maratti,  the  nuptials  take 
place  in  heaven,  the  Virgin  and  Child  being 
throned  in  clouds. 

If  the  kneeling  Sposa  be  St.  Catherine  of  Siena, 
the  nun,  and  not  St.  Catherine  of  Alexandria,  or  if 
the  two  are  introduced,  then  we  may  be  sure  fjhat 
the  picture  was  painted  for  a  nunnery  of  the  Do- 
minican order.f 

The  great  Madonna  in  Trono  by  the  Dominican 
Fra  Bartolomeo,  wherein  the  queenly  St.  Cathe- 
line  of  Alexandria  witnesses  the  mystical  marriage 
of  her  sister  saint,  the  nun  of  Siena,  will  occur  to 
every  one  who  has  been  at  Florence  ;  and  there  is 
a  smaller  picture  by  the  same  painter  in  the 
Louvre  ;  —  a  different  version  of  the  same  subject. 

*  For  a  detailed  account  of  the  legendaiy  marriage  of  St.  Cath- 
irine  and  examples  of  treatment,  see  Sacred  and  Legendary  Art. 

t  See  Legends  of  the  Monastic  Orders.  A  fine  example  of  this 
group  "  the  Spozulizio  of  St.  Catherine  of  Siena,"  has  lately  been 
idded  to  our  National  Qallery ;  (Lorenzo  di  San  Sevccdno,  No 


A  96  LEGENDS   OF   THE   MADONNA. 

I  must  content  myself  with  merely  referring  to 
these  well-known  pictures  which  have  been  often 
engraved,  and  dwell  more  in  detail  on  another,  not 
BO  well  known,  and,  to  my  feeling,  as  preeminently 
beautiful  and  poetical,  but  in  the  early  Flemish,  not 
the  Italian  style  —  a  poem  in  aianguage  less  smooth 
and  sonorous,  but  still  a  poem. 

This  is  the  altar-piece  painted  by  Hemmelinck 
for  the  charitable  sisterhood  of  St.  John*s  Hospital 
at  Bruges.  The  Virgin  is  seated  under  a  porch, 
and  her  throne  decorated  with  rich  tapestry;  two 
graceful  angels  hold  a  crown  over  her  head.  On 
the  right,  St.  Catherine,  superbly  arrayed  as  a 
princess,  kneels  at  her  side,  and  the  beautiful  in- 
fant Christ  bends  forward  and  places  the  bridal 
ring  on  her  finger.  Behind  her  a  charming  angel, 
playing  on  the  organ,  celebrates  the  espousals  with 
hymns  of  joy ;  beyond  him  stands  St.  John  the  Bap- 
tist with  his  lamb.  On  the  left  of  the  Virgin 
kneels  St.  Barbara,  reading  intently;  behind  her 
an  angel  with  a  book;  beyond  him  stands  St 
John  the  Evangehst,  youthful,  mild,  and  pensive. 
Through  the  arcades  of  the  porch  is  seen  a  land- 
Bcape  background,  with  incidents  picturesquely 
treati  d  from  the  lives  of  the  Baptist  and  the  Evan- 
gelist. Such  is  the  central  composition.  The  two 
wings  represent  —  on  one  side,  the  beheading  of 
St.  John  the  Baptist ;  on  the  other,  St.  John  tho 
Evangelist,  in  Patmos,  and  the  vision  of  the  Apoc- 
alypse. In  this  great  work  there  is  a  unity  and 
harmony  of  design  which  blends  the  whole  into  av 


THE    VIRGIN   AND    CHILD.  X97 

BDiprearfeire  poem.  The  object  was  to  do  honour  ia 
the  patrons  of  the  hospital,  the  two  St.  Johns,  and; 
at  the  same  time,  to  express  the  piety  of  the  Chari- 
table Sisters,  who,  like  St.  Catherine  (the  type  of 
contemplative  studious  piety),  were  consecrated 
and  espoused  to  Christ,  and,  like  St.  Barbara  (the 
type  of  active  piety),  were  dedicated  to  good  works. 
It  is  a  tradition,  that  Hemmelinck  painted  this  al" 
tar-piece  as  a  votive  offering  in  gratitude  to  the 
good  Sisters,  who  had  taken  him  in  and  nursed  him 
when  dangerously  wounded  :  and  surely  if  this  tra- 
dition be  true,  never  was  charity  more  magnificent- 
ly recompensed. 

In  a  very  beautiful  picture  by  Ambrogio  Borgo- 
gnone  (Dresden,  collection  of  M.  Grahl)  the  Vii> 
gin  is  seated  on  a  splendid  throne ;  on  the  right 
kneels  St.  Catherine  of  Alexandria,  on  the  left  St. 
Catherine  of  Siena;  the  Virgin  holds  a  hand  of 
each,  which  she  presents  to  the  divine  Child 
seated  on  her  knee,  and  to  each  he  presents  a 
ring. 

The  Virgin  and  Child  between  St.  Catherine 
and  St  Barbara  is  one  of  the  most  popular,  as  well 
as  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  expressive,  of 
these  combinations ;  signifying  active  and  contem- 
plative life,  or  the  two  powers  between  which  the 
social  state  was  divided  in  the  middle  ages,  namely, 
the  ecclesiastical  and  the  military,  learning  and 
arms  (Sacred  and  Legend.  Art) ;  St.  Catherine 
•eing  the  patron  of  the  first,  and  St  Barbara  of 


198      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

fche  last.  When  the  original  significance  had 
ceased  to  be  understood  or  appreciated,  the  group 
continued  to  be  a  favourite  one,  particularly  in 
Germany  ;  and  examples  are  infinite. 

The  Virgin  between  St.  Mary  Magdalene  and 
St.  Barbara,  the  former  as  the  type  of  penance,  hu- 
mility, and  meditative  piety,  the  latter  as  the  type 
of  fortitude  and  courage,  is  also  very  common. 
When  between  St.  Mary  Magdalene  and  St.  Cath- 
erine, the  idea  suggested  is  learning,  with  penitence 
and  humility ;  this  is  a  most  popular  group.  So  is 
St.  Lucia  with  one  of  these  or  both  :  St.  Lucia  with 
her  thmp  or  her  eyes,  is  always  expressive  of  light, 
the  light  of  divine  wisdom. 

The  Vir^n  between  St.  Nicholas  and  St.  George 
U  a  very  expressive  group  ;  the  former  as  the  pa- 
tron saint  of  merchants,  tradesmen,  and  seamen,  the 
popular  saint  of  the  bourgeoisie ;  the  latter  as  the 
patron  of  soldiers,  the  chosen  saint  of  the  aristocra- 
cy. These  two  saints  with  St.  Catherine  are  pre- 
eminent in  the  Venetian  pictures ;  for  all  three,  in 
addition  to  their  poetical  significance,  were  vener- 
ated as  especial  protectors  of  Venice. 

St.  George  and  St.  Christopher  both  stand  by 
the  throne  of  the  Virgin  of  Succour  as  protectors 
and  deliverers  in  danger.  The  attribute  of  St 
Christopher  is  the  little  Christ  on  his  shoulder ;  and 
there  are  instances  in  which  Christ  appears  on  th6 
.ap  of  his  mother,  and  also  on  the  shoulder  of  tht 


TflE    VIRGIN    AND   CHILD.  ii)9 

fcttentlant  St  Christopher.  This  blunder,  if  it  may 
be  so  called,  has  been  avoided,  very  cleverly  I 
should  think  in  his  own  opinion,  by  a  painter  who 
makes  St.  Christopher  kneel,  while  the  Virgin 
places  the  little  Christ  on  his  shoulders ;  a  concetto 
quite  inadmissible  in  a  really  religious  group. 

In  pictures  dedicated  by  charitable  communities, 
we  often  find  St.  Nicholas  and  St.  Leonard  as  the 
patron  saints  of  prisoners  and  captives.  Where- 
ever  St.  Leonard  appears  he  expresses  deliverance 
from  captivity.  St.  Omobuono,  St.  Martin,  St.  Eliz- 
abeth of  Hungary,  St.  Roch,  or  other  beneficent 
saints,  waiting  round  the  Virgin  with  kneeling  beg- 
gars, or  the  blind,  the  lame,  the  sick,  at  their  feet, 
always  expressed  the  Virgin  as  the  mother  of  mercy, 
the  Consolatrix  afflictorum.  Such  pictures  were 
commonly  found  in  hospitals,  and  the  chapels  and 
churches  of  the  Order  of  Mercy,  and  other  charitable 
institutions.  The  examples  are  numerous.  I  remem- 
ber one,  a  striking  picture,  by  Bartolomeo  Montagna, 
where  the  Virgin  and  Child  are  enthroned  in  the 
centre  as  usual.  On  her  right  the  good  St.  Omo- 
buono, dressed  as  a  burgher,  in  a  red  gown  and  fur 
cap,  gives  alms  to  a  poor  beggar ;  on  the  left,  St. 
Francis  presents  a  celebrated  friar  of  his  Order, 
Bernardino  da  Feltri,  the  first  founder  of  a  mont-de- 
piete,  who  kneels,  holding  the  emblem  of  his  institu- 
tion, a  little  green  mountain  with  a  cross  at  the  top. 

Besides  these  saints,  who  have  a  general  religion* 


200      LEGENDS  01  THE  MADONNA. 

character  and  significance,  we  have  the  national 
and  local  saints,  whose  presence  very  often  marks 
the  country  or  school  of  art  which  produced  the 
picture. 

A  genuine  Florentine  Madonna  is  distinguished 
by  a  certain  elegance  and  stateliness,  and  well  be- 
comes her  throne.  As  patroness  of  Florence,  in 
her  own  right,  the  Virgin  bears  the  title  of  Santa 
Maria  del  Fiore,  and  in  this  character  she  holds  a 
flower,  generally  a  rose,  or  is  in  the  act  of  present- 
ing it  to  the  Child.  She  is  often  attended  by  St 
John  the  Baptist,  as  patron  of  Florence  ;  but  he  is 
everywhere  a  saint  of  such  power  and  importance 
as  an  attendant  on  the  divine  personages,  that  hia 
appearance  in  a  picture  does  not  stamp  it  as 
Florentine.  St.  Cosmo  and  St.  Damian  are  Flor- 
entine, as  the  protectors  of  the  Medici  family ;  but 
as  patrons  of  the  healing  art,  they  have  a  signifi- 
cance which  renders  them  common  in  the  Vene- 
tian and  other  pictures.  It  may,  however,  be  de- 
termined, that  if  St.  John  the  Baptist,  St.  Cosmo 
and  St.  Damian,  with  St.  Laurence  (the  patron 
of  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent),  appear  together  ic 
attendance  on  the  Virgin,  that  picture  is  of  the 
Florentine  school.  The  presence  of  St.  Zenobio, 
or  of  St.  Antonino,  the  patron  archbishops  of  Flor- 
ence, will  set  the  matter  at  rest,  for  these  are 
exclusively  Florentine.  In  a  picture  by  Giotto, 
angels  attend  on  the  Virgin  bearing  vases  of  Hlies 
in  their  hands.  (Lilies  are  at  once  the  emblem  of 
the  Virgin    and    the   device  of   Florence.)      ()■ 


THE    VIRGIN   AND   CHILD.  201 

•ach  side  kneel  St.  John  the  Baptist  and  St.  Z©* 
nobio.* 

A  Siena  Madonna  would  naturally  be  attended 
by  St.  Bernardino  and  St.  Catherine  of  Siena ;  if 
they  seldom  appear  together,  it  is  because  they  be- 
long to  different  religious  orders. 

In  the  Venetian  pictures  we  find  a  crowd  of 
guardian  saints ;  first  among  them,  St.  Mark,  then 
,  St.  Catherine,  St.  George,  St.  Nicholas^  and  St. 
Justina :  wherever  these  appear  together,  that  pic- 
ture is  surely  from  the  Venetian  school. 

All  through  Loaabardy  and  Piedmont,  St.  Am- 
brose of  Milan  and  St.  Maurice  of  Savoy  are 
favourite  attendants  on  the  Virgin. 

In  Spanish  and  Flemish  art,  the  usual  attendants 
on  the  queenly  Madonna  are  monks  and  nuns, 
which  brings  us  to  the  consideration  of  a  large  and 
interesting  class  of  pictures,  those  dedicated  by  the 
various  religious  orders.  When»  we  remember 
that  the  institution  of  some  of  the  most  influential 
of  these  communities  was  coeval  with  the  revi- 
val of  art ;  that  for  three  or  four  centuries,  art  in 
all  its  forms  had  no  more  powerful  or  more  munifi- 
'».ent  patrons ;  that  they  counted  among  their  various 
brotherhoods  some  of  the  greatest  artists  the  world 
Vias  seen ;  we  can  easily  imagine  how  the  beatified 
members  of  these  orders  have  become  so*conspicu- 

•  We  now  possess  in  our  National  Gallery  a  Tery  interesting 
•sample-  of  a  Florentine  enthroned  Madonna,  attended  bj  St 
Idin  the  Baptist  and  St.  Zenobio  as  patrons  of  JE'loreuce. 


802  LEGENDS    OF    THE   MADONNA. 

ous  as  attendants  on  the  celestial  personages.  To 
those  who  are  accustomed  to  read  the  significance 
of  a  work  of  art,  a  single  glance  is  often  sufficient 
to  decide  for  what  order  it  has  been  executed. 

St.  Paul  is  a  favourite  saint  of  the  Benedictine 
communities;  and  there  are  few  great  pictures 
painted  for  them  in  which  he  does  not  appear. 
When  in  companionship  with  St.  Benedict,  either 
in  the  original  black  habit  or  the  white  habit  of 
the  reformed  orders,  with  St.  Scholastica  bearing 
her  dove,  with  St.  Bernard,  St.  Romualdo,  or  other 
worthies  of  this  venerable  community,  the  inter- 
pretation is  easy. 

Here  are  some  examples  by  Domenico  Puligo 
The  Virgin  not  seated,  but  standing  on  a  lofty  ped« 
estal,  looks  down  on  her  worshippers ;  the  Child  in 
her  arms  extends  the  right  hand  in  benediction; 
with  his  left  he  points  to  himself,  "  I  am  the  Resur- 
rection and  the  Life."  Around  are  six  saints,  St. 
Peter,  St.  Paulf  St.  John  the  Baptist  as  protector 
of  Florence,  St.  Matthew,  St.  Catherine ;  and  St. 
Bernard,  in  his  ample  white  habit,  with  his  keen  in- 
tellectual face,  is  about  to  write  in  a  great  book, 
and  looking  up  to  the  Virgin  for  inspiration.  The 
picture  was  originally  painted  for  the  Cistercians.* 

The  Virgin  and  Child  enthroned  between  St. 
Augustine  and  his  mother  St.  Monica,  as  in  a 
fine  pictilre  by  Florigerio  (Venice  Acad.),  would 
ihow  the  picture  to  be  painted  for  one  of  the  nu 

*  It  is  now  in  the  S  Maria-Maddalena  de'  Paczi  at  Floranet 
■ograyed  in  the  **  Etmiia  Pittrice,"  xxxT. 


THE    VIRGIN   AND    CHILD.  208 

meioiis  branches  of  the  Augustine  Order.  S^.  An- 
tony the  abbot  is  a  favourite  saint  in  pictures  painted 
for  the  Augustine  hermits. 

In  the  "  Madonna  del  Baldachino "  of  Raphael, 
the  beardless  saint  who  stands  in  a  white  habit  on 
one  side  of  the  throne  is  usually  styled  St.  Bruno;  an 
evident  mistake.  It  is  not  a  Carthusian,  but  a  Cister- 
cian monk,  and  I  think  St.  Bernard,  the  general  pa- 
tron of  monastic  learning.  The  other  attendant 
fiaints  are  St.  Peter,  St.  James,  and  St.  Augustine. 
The  picture  was  originally  painted  for  the  church  of 
San  Spirito  at  Florence,  belonging  to  the  Augustines. 

But  St.  Augustine  is  also  the  patriarch  of  the 
Franciscans  and  Dominicans,  and  frequently  takec' 
an  influential  place  in  their  pictures,  as  the  com- 
panion either  of  St.  Francis  or  of  St.  Dominick,  as 
in  a  picture  by  Fra  Angelico.    (Florence  Gal.) 

Among  the  votive  Madonnas  of  the  mendicant 
orders,  I  will  mention  a  few  conspicuous  for  beauty 
and  interest,  which  will   serve  as  a  key  to  others. 

1.  The  Virgin  and  Child  enthroned  between 
Antony  of  Padua  and  St.  Clara  of  Assisi,  as  in 
a  small  elegant  picture  by  Pellegrino,  must  have 
been  dedicated  in  a  church  of  the  Franciscans. 
(Sutherland  Gal.) 

2.  The  Virgin  blesses  St  Francis,  who  looks  up 
*doring :  behind  him  St.  Antony  of  Padua ;  on  the 
other  side,  John  the  Baptist  as  a  man,  and  St.  Cath- 
erine. A  celebrated  but  not  an.  agreeaole  picture^ 
painted  by  Correggio  for  the  Franciscan  church  at 
Parma.     (Dresden  Gal.) 


804  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MADONNA. 

3.  The  Virgin  is  seated  In  glory;  on  one  side 
St.  Francis,  on  the  other  St.  Antony  of  Padaa, 
both  placed  in  heaven,  and  almost  on  an  equality 
with  the  celestial  personages.  Around  are  seven 
female  figures,  representing  the  seven  cardinal  vir- 
tues, bearing  their  respective  attributes.  Below 
are  seen  the  worthies  of  the  Franciscan  Order; 
to  the  right  of  the  Virgin,  St.  Elizabeth  of  Hun- 
gary, St.  Louis  of  France,  St.  Bonaventura ;  to  the 
left,  St.  Ives  of  Bretagne,  St.  Eleazar,  and  St. 
Louis  of  Toulouse.*  Painted  for  the  Franciscans 
by  Morone  and  Paolo  Cavazzolo  of  Verona.  This 
is  a  picture  of  wonderful  beauty,  and  quite  poeti- 
cal in  the  sentiment  and  arrangement,  and  the 
mingling  of  the  celestial,  the  allegorical,  and  the 
real  personages,  with  a  certain  solemnity  and  grace- 
fulness quite  indescribable.  The  virtues,  for  in- 
stance, are  not  so  much  allegorical  persons  aa 
spiritual  appearances,  and  the  whole  of  the  upper 
part  of  the  picture  is  like  a  vision. 

4.  The  Virgin,  standing  on  the  tree  of  life,  holds 
the  Infant:  rays  of  glory  proceed  from  them  on 
every  side.  St.  Francis,  kneeling  at  the  foot  of  the 
tree,  looks  up  in  an  ecstasy  of  devotion,  while  a 
«nake  with  a  wounded  and  bleeding  head  is  crawl- 
ing away.  This  strange  picture,  painted  for  the 
Franciscans,  by  Carducho,  about  1625,  is  a  repre- 
lentation  of  an  abstract  dogma  (redemption  from 
original  sin),  in  the  most  real,  most  animated  form 

*  For  these  Franciscan  saints,  v.  Legends  of   the  Monaatk 


THE   VIRGIN   AND   CHILD.  204 

—  all  over  life,  earthly  breathing  hfe  —  and  made 
me  start  back :  in  the  mingling  of  mysticism  and 
materialism,  it  is  quite  Spanish.* 

*>  The  Virgin  and  Child  enthroned.  On  the  right 
of  tlie  Virgm,  St.  John  the  Baptist  and  St.  Zeno- 
bio,  the  two  protectors  of  Florence.  The  latter 
wears  his  episcopal  cope  richly  embroidered  with 
figures.  On  the  left  stand  St.  Peter  and  St.  Domi- 
nick,  protectors  of  the  company  for  whom  the  pic- 
ture was  painted.  In  front  kneel  St.  Jerome  and 
St.  Francis.  This  picture  was  originally  placed  in 
San  Marco,  a  church  belonging  to  the  Domini- 
cans.! 

6.  When  the  Virgin  or  the  Child  holds  the  Rosa- 
ry, it  is  then  a  Madonna  del  Rosario,  and  painted 
for  the  Dominicans.  The  Madonna  by  Murillo,  in 
the  Dulwich  Gallery,  is  an  example.  There  is  an 
instance  in  which  the  Madonna  and  Child  enthroned 
are  distributing  rosaries  to  the  worshippers,  and  at- 
tended by  St.  Dominick  and  St.  Peter  Martyr,  the 

*Esterhazy  Gal.,  Vienna.  Mr.  Stirling  tells  us  that  the  Fran- 
ciscan friars  of  Valladolid  possessed  two  pictures  of  the  Virgin  by 
Mateo  de  Cerezo  "  in  one  of  which  she  was  represented  sitting  in 
%  cherry-tree  and  adored  by  St.  Francis.  This  unusual  throne 
may  perhaps  have  been  introduced  by  Cerezo  as  a  symbol  of  hia 
own  devout  feelings,  his  patronymic  being  the  Castilian  word  for 
eherry-tree."  —  Stirling's  Artists  of  Spain^  p.  1033.  There  are, 
however,  many  prints  and  pictures  of  the  Virgin  and  Child  seat- 
ed in  a  tree.  It  was  one  of  the  fantastic  conceptions  of  an  un- 
healthy period  of  religion  and  art 

1 1  saw  and  admired  this  fine  and  valuable  picture  in  tie  Ki- 
Ifcaccini  Palace  at  Florence  in  1847 ;  it  was  purchased  for  *»iir  N»- 
I  Gallerf  in  1855. 

14 


206  LEQENDS   OF   THE  MADONNA. 

two  great  saints  of  the  Order.    (Caravaggit   Belve« 
dere  Gal.,  Vienna.) 

7.  Very  important  in  pictures  is  the  Madonna  aa 
more  particularly  the  patroness  of  the  Carmelites, 
under  her  well-known  title  of  "  Our  Lady  of  Mount 
Carmel,"  or  La  Madonna  del  Carmine,  The  mem- 
bers of  this  Order  received  from  Pope  Honoriui 
III.  the  privilege  of  styling  themselves  the  "  Fam- 
ily of  the  Blessed  Virgin,"  and  their  churches  are 
all  dedicated  to  her  under  the  title  of  S.  Maria  del 
Carmine.  She  is  generally  represented  holding 
the  infant  Christ,  with  her  robe  outspread,  and  be- 
neath its  folds  the  Carmelite  brethren  and  their 
chief  saints.*  There  is  an  example  in  a  picture  by 
Pordenone  which  once  belonged  to  Canova.  (Acad. 
Venice.)  The  Madonna  del  Carmine  is  also  por- 
trayed as  distributing  to  her  votaries  small  tablets 
on  which  is  a  picture  of  herself. 

8.  The  Virgin,  as  patroness  of  the  Order  of  Mer- 
cy, also  distributes  tablets,  but  they  bear  the  badge 
of  the  Order,  and  this  distinguishes  "  Our.  Lady  of 
Mercy,"  so  popular  in  Spanish  art,  from  "  Our 
Lady  of  Mount  Carmel."  (v.  Monastic  Op- 
ders.) 

A  large  class  of  these  Madonna  pictures  are  vo- 
tive offerings  for  public  or  private  mercies.  They 
present  some  most  interesting  varieties  of  charactei 
and  arrangement 

A  votive  Mater  Misericordiae,  with  the  Child  i» 
•  ▼.  Legends  of  the  Monastic  Orders,  "The  OanneJtee." 


PUBLIC   VOTIVE    MADONNAS.  207 

Ker  arms,  is  often  standing  with  her  wide  ample 
robe  extended,  and  held  up  on  each  side  by  angels. 
Kneeling  at  her  feet  are  the  votaries  who  have  con- 
secrated the  picture,  generally  some  community  or 
brotherhood  instituted  for  charitable  purposes,  who, 
as  they  kneel,  present  the  objects  of  their  charity  — 
widows,  orphans,  prisoners,  or  the  sick  and  infirm. 
The  Child,  in  her  arms,  bends  forward  with  the 
hand  raised  in  benediction.  I  have  already  spoken 
of  the  Mater  MisericordiaB  without  the  Child.  The 
sentiment  is  yet  more  beautiful  and  complete  where 
the  Mother  of  Mercy  holds  the  infant  Redeemer, 
the  representative  and  pledge  of  God's  infinite  mer- 
cy, in  her  arms. 

There  is  a  "  Virgin  of  Mercy,"  by  Salvator  Rosa, 
which  is  singular  and  rather  poetical  in  the  concep- 
tion. She  is  seated  in  heavenly  glory ;  the  infant 
Christ,  on  her  knee,  bends  benignly  forward.  Tu- 
telary angels  are  represented  as  pleading  for  meiv 
cy,  with  eager  outstretched  arms;  other  angels, 
lower  down,  are  liberating  the  souls  of  repentant 
sinners  from  torment.  The  expression  in  some  of 
the  heads,  the  contrast  between  the  angelic  pitying 
spirits  and  the  anxious  haggard  features  of  the 
**  Anime  del  Purgatorio "  are  very  fine  and  ani 
mated.  Here  Ae  Virgin  is  the  "  Refuge  of  Sin- 
ners," Refugium  Peccatorum.  Such  pictures  are 
commonly  met  with  in  chapels  dedicated  to  sei- 
9ices  for  the  dead. 

Another  class  of  votive  pi^twres  are  especial  acti 


!08  LEGENDS   OF    THE   MADONNA. 

of  thanksgiving :  —  1st.  For  victory,  as  La  Madon 
na  delta  Vittoria^  Noire  Dame  des  Victoires,  The 
Virgin,  on  her  throne,  is  then  attended  by  one  oi 
more  of  the  warrior  saints,  together  with  the  pa- 
tron or  patroness  of  the  victors.  She  is  then  our 
Lady  of  Victory.  A  very  perfect  example  of  these 
victorious  Madonnas  exists  in  a  celebrated  picture 
by  Andrea  Mantegna.  The  Virgin  is  seated  on  a 
lofty  throne,  embowered  by  garlands  of  fruit, 
leaves,  and  flowers,  and  branches  of  coral,  fanci- 
fully disposed  as  a  sort  of  canopy  over  her  head. 
The  Child  stands  on  her  knee,  and  raises  his  hand 
in  the  act  of  benediction.  On  the  right  of  the  Vir- 
gin appear  the  warlike  saints,  St.  Michael  and  St 
Maurice ;  they  recommend  to  her  protection  the 
Marquis  of  Mantua,  Giovan  Francesco  Gonzag^ 
who  kneels  in  complete  armour.*  On  the  left 
stand  St.  Andrew  and  St.  Longinus,  the  guardian 
saints  of  Mantua ;  on  the  step  of  the  throne,  the 
young  St.  John  the  Baptist,  patron  of  the  Marquis ; 
and  more  in  front,  a  female  figure,  seen  half-length, 
which  some  have  supposed  to  be  St.  Elizabeth,  the 
mother  of  the  Baptist,  and  others,  with  more  rea- 
ion,  the  wife  of  the  Marquis,  the  accomplished  Isa- 
bella d'Este.f  This  picture  was  dedicated  in  ele- 
bration  of  the  victory  gained  by  Gonzaga  ovei  the 

*  "  Qui  rend  gi^ces  du  pritendu  succ6s  obtenu  sur  Charlef 
Vm.  k  la  bataille  de  Fornone,"  as  the  French  catalogue  ex 
presses  it. 

t  Both,  however,  may  be  right;  for  St.  Elizabeth  was  the  pa 
^n  saint  of  the  Marchesana :  the  head  has  quite  the  air  of 
portrait,  and  may  be  Isabella  in  likeness  of  a  saint. 


PUBLIC   VOTIVE   MADONNAS.  20$ 

French,  near  Fornone,  in  1495.*  There  is  some- 
thing  exceedingly  grand,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
exceedingly  fantastic  and  poetical,  in  the  whole  ar- 
rangement; and  besides  its  beauty  and  historicaJ 
importance,  it  is  the  most  important  work  of  An- 
drea Mantegna.  Gonzaga,  who  is  the  hero  of  the 
picture,  was  a  poet  as  well  as  a  soldier.  Isabella 
d'Este  shines  conspicuously,  both  for  virtue  and 
talent,  in  the  history  of  the  revival  of  art  during 
the  fifteenth  century.  She  was  one  of  the  first  who 
collected  gems,  antiques,  pictures,  and  made  them 
available  for  the  study  and  improvement  of  the 
learned.  Altogether,  the  picture  is  most  interest- 
ing in  every  point  of  view.  It  was  carried  ofi*  by 
the  French  from  Milan  in  1797 ;  and  considering 
the  occasion  on  which  it  was  painted,  they  must 
have  had  a  special  pleasure  in  placing  it  in  their 
Louvre,  where  it  still  remains. 

There  is  a  very  curious  and  much  more  ancient 
Madonna  of  this  class  preserved  at  Siena,  and  styled 
the  "  Madonna  del  Voto."  The  Sienese  being  at 
war  with  Florence,  placed  their  city  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Virgin,  and  made  a  solemn  vow  that, 
if  victorious,  they  would  make  over  their  whole  ter- 
ritory to  her  as  a  perpetual  possession,  and  hold  it 
from  her  as  her  loyal  vassals.  After  the  victory  of 
Arbia,  which  placed  Florence  itself  for  a  time  in 

*  "  SI  leB  soldats  ayaient  mleux  second^  la  bravoure  de  leoc 
ehef,  I'armae  de  Charles  VIII.  6tait  perdue  sans  ressource  — Hm 
ie  dispers^rent  pour  piller  et  laiss^rent  aix  Fra^^ais  to  temps  i» 
vontinuer  leur  route." 


210  LEGENDS   OF    THE    MADONNA. 

Buch  imminent  danger,  a  picture  was  dedicated  by 
Siena  to  the  Virgin  della  Vittoria.  She  is  en- 
throned and  crowned,  and  the  infant  Christ,  stand- 
mg  on  her  knee,  holds  in  his  hand  the  deed  of  gift. 

2dly.  For  deliverance  from  plague  and  pesti- 
lence, those  scourges  of  the  middle  ages.  In  sm^h 
pictures  the  Virgin  is  generally  attended  by  St 
Sebastian,  with  St.  Roch  or  St.  George ;  sometimes, 
also,  by  St.  Cosmo  and  St.  Damian,  all  of  them 
protectors  and  healers  in  time  of  sickness  and  ca- 
lamity. These  intercessors  are  often  accompanied 
by  the  patrons  of  the  church  or  locality. 

There  is  a  remarkable  picture  of  this  class  by 
Matteo  di  Giovanni  (Siena  Acad.),  in  which  the 
Virgin  and  Child  are  throned  between  St.  Sebas- 
tian and  St.  George,  while  St.  Cosmo  and  St. 
Damian,  dressed  as  physicians,  and  holding  their 
palms,  kneel  before  the  throne. 

In  a  very  famous  picture  by  Titian  (Rome, 
Vatican),  the  Virgin  and  Child  are  seated  in 
heavenly  glory.  She  has  a  smiling  and  gracious 
expression,  and  the  Child  holds  a  garland,  while 
angels  scatter  flowers.  Below  stand  St.  Sebastian, 
St.  Nicholas^  St.  Catherine,  St.  Peter,  and  St. 
Francis.  The  picture  was  an  offering  to  the 
Virgin,  after  the  cessation  of  a  pestilence  at  Ven- 
ice, and  consecrated  in  a  church  of  the  Fran' 
ciscans  dedicated  to  St.  Nicholas,'*^ 

*  San  Nicolo  de'  Frari,  since  destroyed,  and  th«  pictuve  bH 
kwn  transferred  to  the  Vatican. 


PUBLIC    VOTIVE    MADONNAS.  21 1 

Anotbir  celebrated  votive  picture  against  pesti- 
lence is  Correggio's  *'  Madonna  di  San  Sebastiano." 
(Dresden  Gal.)  She  is  seated  in  heavenly  glory, 
with  little  angels,  not  so  much  adoring  as  sporting 
and  hovering  round  her ;  below  are  St.  Sebastian 
and  St.  Roch,  the  latter  asleep.  (There  would  be 
an  impropriety  in  exhibiting  St.  Roch  sleeping  but 
for  the  reference  to  the  legend,  that,  while  he  slept, 
an  angel  healed  him,  which  lends  the  circumstance 
a  kind  of  poetical  beauty.)  St.  Sebastian,  bound, 
looks  up  on  the  other  side.  The  introduction  of 
St.  Geminiano,  the  patron  of  Modena,  shows  the 
picture  to  have  been  painted  for  that  city,  which 
had  been  desolated  by  pestilence  in  1512.  The 
date  of  the  picture  is  1515. 

We  may  then  take  it  for  granted,  that  wherever 
the  Virgin  and  Child  appear  attended  by  St.  Se- 
bastian and  St.  Roch,  the  picture  has  been  a 
votive  offering  against  the  plague ;  and  there  is 
Bomething  touching  in  the  number  of  such  me- 
morials which  exist  in  the  Italian  churches,  (v. 
Sacred  and  Legendary  Art.)  The  brotherhoods 
instituted  in  most  of  the  towns  of  Italy  and  Ger- 
many, for  attending  the  sick  and  plague-stricken 
in  times  of  pubhc  calamity,  were  placed  under 
the  protection  of  the  Virgin  of  Mercy,  St.  Se- 
bastian, and  St.  Roch ;  and  many  of  these  pic- 
tures were  dedicated  by  such  communities,  or  by 
the  municipal  authorities  of  the  city  or  locality. 
There  is  a  memorable  example  in  a  picture  by 
Quido,  paintei,  oy  command  of  the  Senate  of  Bo 


^12  LEGENDS    OF    THE   MADONNA. 

logna,  after  the  cessation  of  the  plague,  which  tioso* 
lated  the  city  in  1630.  (Acad.  Bologna.)  The 
benign  Virgin,  with  her  Child,  is  seated  m  the 
Bkies ;  the  rainbow,  symbol  of  peace  and  recon- 
ciliation, is  under  her  feet.  The  mfant  Christ, 
lovely  and  gracious,  raises  his  right  hand  in  the 
act  of  blessing;  in  the  other  he  holds  a  branch 
of  olive :  angels  scatter  flowers  around.  Below 
stand  the  guardian  saints,  the  "  Santi  Protettori  ** 
of  Bologna; — St.  Petronius,  St.  Francis,  St.  Domi- 
nick;  the  warrior-martyrs,  St.  Proculus  and  St 
Florian,  in  complete  armour;  with  St.  Ignatius 
and  St.  Francis  Xavier.  Below  these  is  seen,  as 
if  through  a  dark  cloud  and  diminished,  the  city  of 
Bologna,  where  the  dead  are  borne  away  in  carts 
and  on  biers.  The  upper  part  of  this  famous  pic- 
ture is  most  charming  for  the  gracious  beauty  of 
the  expression,  the  freshness  and  dehcacy  of  the 
colour.  The  lower  part  is  less  happy,  though  the 
head  of  St.  Francis,  which  is  the  portrait  of  Guido'a 
mtimate  friend  and  executor,  Saulo  Guidotti,  can 
hardly  be  exceeded  for  intense  and  life-like  truth. 
The  other  figures  are  deficient  in  expression  and 
the  execution  hurried,  so  that  on  the  whole  it  is 
jttferior  to  the  votive  Pietk  already  described. 
Guido,  it  is  said,  had  no  time  to  prepare  a  canvas 
or  cartoons,  and  painted  the  whole  on  a  piece  of 
white  silk.  It  was  carried  in  grand  procession, 
and  solemnly  dedicated  by  the  Senate,  whence  b 
obtained  the  title  by  which  it  is  celebrated  in  tht 
liistor}  of  art,  "  II  Pallione  del  Voto." 


FAMILY   VOTIVE   MADONNAS.  213 

3dly  Against  inundations,  flood,  and  fire,  St 
George  is  the  great  protector.  This  saint  and  St. 
Barbara,  who  is  patroness  against  thunder  and 
tempest,  express  deliverance  from  such  calami- 
ties, when  in  companionship. 

The  ".  Madonna  di  San  Giorgio  "  of  Correggio 
(Dresden  GaJ.)  is  a  votive  altar-piece  dedicated  on 
the  occasion  of  a  great  inundation  of  the  river 
Secchia.  She  is  seated  on  her  throne,  and  the 
Child  looks  down  on  the  worshippers  and  votaries. 
St.  George  stands  in  front  victorious,  his  foot  on 
the  head  of  the  dragon.  The  introduction  of  St. 
Geminiano  tells  us  that  the  picture  was  painted 
for  the  city  of  Modena ;  the  presence  of  St.  Johu 
the  Baptist  and  St.  Peter  Martyr  show  that  it  was 
dedicated  by  the  Dominicans,  in  their  church  of 
St.  John.     (See  Legends  of  the  Monastic  Orders.) 


Not  less  interesting  are  those  votive  Madonnas 
dedicated  by  the  piety  of  families  and  individuals. 
In  the  family  altar-pieces,  the  votary  is  often  pre- 
sented on  one  side  by  his  patron  saint,  and  his  wife 
by  her  patron  on  the  other.  Not  seldom  a  troop 
of  hopeful  sons  attend  the  father,  and  a  train  of 
gentle,  demure-looking  daughters  kneel  behind  the 
mother.  Such  memorials  of  domestic  affection  and 
grateful  piety  are  often  very  charming;  they  are 
pieces  of  family  biography:*  we  have  celebrated 
examples  both  in  German  and  Italian  art. 

*  Several  are  engraved,  as  iUustrations,  in  Litta's  great  Hi» 
vOiy  of  the  Italian  Families. 


B14  LEGENDS   OF   THE   MADONNA. 

1,  The  "  Madonna  della  Famiglia  Bentivoglio " 
was  painted  by  Lorenzo  Costa,  for  Giovanni  11., 
lord  or  tyrant  of  Bologna  from  1462  to  1506. 
The  history  of  this  Giovanni  is  mixed  up  in  an 
interesting  manner  with  the  revival  of  art  and 
letters  ;  he  was  a  great  patron  of  both,  and  among 
the  painters  in  his  service  were  Francesco  Francia 
and  Lorenzo  Costa.  The  latter  painted  for  him 
his  family  chapel  in  the  church  of  San  Giacomo 
at  Bologna;  and,  while  the  Bentivogli  have  long 
since  been  chased  from  their  native  territory,  their 
family  altar  still  remains  untouched,  unviolated. 
The  Virgin,  as  usual,  is  seated  on  a  lofty  throne 
bearing  her  divine  Child ;  she  is  veiled,  no  hair 
seen,  and  simply  draped ;  she  bends  forward  with 
mild  benignity.  To  the  right  of  the  throne  kneels 
Giovanni  with  his  four  sons ;  on  the  left  his  wife, 
attended  by  six  daughters:  all  are  portraits,  ad- 
mirable studies  for  character  and  costume.  Behind 
the  daughters,  the  head  of  an  old  woman  is  just 
-visible,  —  according  to  tradition  the  old  nurse  of 
the  family. 

2.  Another  most  interesting  family  Madonna  is 
that  of  Ludovico  Sforza  il  Moro,  painted  for  the 
church  of  Sant'  Ambrogio  at  Milan.*  The  Virgin 
sits  enthroned,  richly  dressed,  with  long  fair  hair 
hanging  down,  and  no  veil  or  ornament ;  two  angels 
hold  a  crown  over  her  head.  The  Child  lies  ex- 
pended on  her  knee.     Round  her  throne  are  tht 

*  By  an  unknown  painter  of  the  school  of  Lionardo,  and  nov 
B  the  gallery  of  the  Brera. 


FAMILY    VOTIVE   MADONNAS.  215 

four  fathers,  St.  Ambrose,  St.  Gregory,  St.  Jerome, 
and  St.  Augustine.  In  front  of  the  throne  kneels 
Ludovico  il  Moro,  Duke  of  Milan,  in  a  rich  dress 
and  unarmed;  Ambrose,  as  protector  of  Milan, 
lays  his  hand  upon  his  shoulder.  At  his  side  kneels 
a  boy  about  five  years  old.  Opposite  to  him  is 
the  duchess,  Beatrice  d'Este,  also  kneeling ;  and 
near  her  a  Uttle  baby  in  swaddling  clothes,  hold- 
ing up  its  tiny  hands  in  supplication,  kneels  on  a 
cushion.  The  age  of  the  children  shows  the  pic- 
ture to  havQ  been  painted  about  1496.  The  fate 
of  Ludovico  U  Moro  is  well  known :  perhaps  the 
blessed  Virgin  deemed  a  traitor  and  an  assassin  un- 
worthy of  her  protection.  He  died  in  the  frightful 
prison  of  Loches  after  twelve  years  of  captivity; 
and  both  his  sons,  Maximilian  and  Francesco, 
were  unfortunate.  With  them  the  family  of  Sforza 
and  the  independence  of  Milan  were  extinguished 
together  in  1535. 

3.  Another  celebrated  and  most  precious  picture 
of  this  class  is  the  Virgin  of  the  Meyer  family, 
painted  by  Holbein  for  the  burgomaster  Jacob 
Meyer  of  Basle.*  According  to  a  family  tradition, 
the  youngest  son  of  the  burgomaster  was  sick  even 
to  death,  and,  through  the  merciful  intercession  of 
Ihe  Virgin,  was  restored  to  his  parents,  who,  m 
gratitude,  dedicated  this  offering.  She  stands  on 
a  pedestal  in  a  richly  ornamented  niche ;  over  her 
long  fair  hair,  which  falls  down  her  shoulders  to 
her  waist,  she  wears  a  superb  crown  ;  and  her  robe 
•  Dresden  Gal.    The  engraving  oy  Steinle  is  justly  celebrated  i 


216  LEGENDS    OF    THE   MADONNA. 

of  a  dark  greenish  blue  is  confined  by  a  ciimson 
girdle.  In  purity,  dignity,  humility,  and  intellect- 
ual grace,  this  exquisite  Madonna  has  never  been 
surpassed,  not  even  by  Raphael ;  the  face,  once 
seen,  haunts  the  memory.  The  Child  in  her  armi 
is  generally  supposed  to  be  the  infant  Christ.  I 
have  fancied,  as  I  look  on  the  picture,  that  it  may 
be  the  poor  sick  child  recommended  to  her  mercy, 
for  the  face  is  very  pathetic,  the  limbs  not  merely 
delicate  but  attenuated,  while,  on  comparing  it  with 
the  robust  child  who  stands  below,  the  resemblance 
and  the  contrast  are  both  striking.  To  the  right 
of  the  Virgin  kneels  the  burgomaster  Meyer  with 
two  of  his  sons,  one  of  whom  holds  the  little  brother 
who  is  restored  to  health,  and  seems  to  present  him 
to  the  people.  On  the  left  kneel  four  females  — 
the  mother,  the  grandmother,  and  two  daughters. 
All  these  are  portraits,  touched  with  that  homely, 
vigorous  truth,  and  finished  with  that  consummate 
delicacy,  which  characterized  Holbein  in  his  hap- 
piest efibrts;  and,  with  their  earnest  but  rather 
ugly  and  earthly  faces,  contrasting  with  the  di- 
vinely compassionate  and  refined  being  who  looks 
down  on  them  with  an  air  so  human,  so  maternal, 
and  yet  so  unearthly. 

Sometimes  it  is  a  single  votary  who  kneels  before 
the  Madonna.     In  the  old  times  he  expressed  hit 
humility  by  placing  himself  in  a  corner  and  mak- 
ing himself  so  diminutive  as  to  be  scarce  visible 
tfterwards,  the  head  of  the  votary  or  donor  is  seen 


FAMILY   VOTIVE   MADONNAS.  217 

[ife-size,  with  hands  joined  in  prayer,  just  above 
the  margin  at  the  foot  of  the  throne ;  care  being 
taken  to  remove  him  from  all  juxtaposition  with 
the  attendant  saints.  But,  as  the  religious  feeling 
in  art  declined,  the  living  votaries  are  mingled 
with  the  spiritual  patrons  —  the  "  human  mortals  " 
with  the  "  human  immortals,"  —  with  a  disregard 
tc  time  and  place,  which,  if  it  be  not  so  lowly  in 
spirit,  can  be  rendered  by  a  great  artist  strikingly 
poetical  and  significant. 

1.  The  renowned  "  Madonna  di  Foligno,"  one  of 
Raphael's  masterpieces,  is  a  votive  picture  of  this 
class.  It  was  dedicated  by  Sigismund  Conti  of  Fo- 
ligno,  private  secretary  to  Pope  Julius  11.,  and  a 
distinguished  man  in  other  respects,  a  writer  and  a 
patron  of  learning.  It  appears  that  Sigismund  hav- 
ing been  in  great  danger  from  a  meteor  or  thunder- 
bolt, vowed  an  ofiering  to  the  blessed  Virgin,  to 
"*rhom  he  attributed  his  safety,  and  in  fulfilment  of 
his  vow  consecrated  this  precious  picture  In  the 
upper  part  of  the  composition  sits  the  Virgin  in 
heavenly  glory ;  by  her  side  the  infant  Christ, 
partly  sustained  by  his  mother's  veil,  which  is 
drawn  round  his  body :  both  look  down  benignly  on 
the  votary  Sigismund  Conti,  who,  kneehng  below, 
gazes  up  with  an  expression  of  the  most  intense 
gratitude  and  devotion.  It  is  a  portrait  from  the 
life,  and  certainly  one  of  the  finest  and  most  life- 
^3  that  exists  in  painting.  Behind  him  stands  St. 
Jerome,  who,  placing  his  hand  upon  the  head  of  the 
Notary,  seems  to  present  him  to  his  celestial  proteo 


218  LEGENDS    OF    THE   MADONNA. 

tress.  On  the  opposite  side  John  the  Baptist,  the 
meagre  wild-looking  prophet  cf  the  desert,  point* 
upward  to  the  Redeemer.  More  in  front  kneelj 
St.  Francis,  who,  while  he  looks  up  to  heaven  with 
trusting  and  imploring  love,  extends  his  right  hano 
towards  the  worshippers,  supposed  to  be  assembled 
in  the  church,  recommending  them  also  to  the  pro- 
tecting grace  of  the  Virgin.  In  the  centre  of  the  pic- 
ture, dividing  these  two  groups,  stands  a  lovely  an- 
gel-boy holding  in  his  hand  a  tablet,  one  of  the  most 
cnarming  figures  of  this  kind  Raphael  ever  painted; 
the  head,  looking  up,  has  that  sublime,  yet  perfectly 
childish  grace,  which  strikes  us  in  those  awful  angel- 
boys  in  the  "  Madonna  di  San  Sisto."  The  back- 
ground is  a  landscape,  in  which  appears  the  city  of 
Foligno  at  a  distance ;  it  is  overshadowed  by  a 
storm-cloud,  and  a  meteor  is  seen  falling ;  but  above 
these  bends  a  rainbow,  pledge  of  peace  and  safety. 
The  whole  picture  glows  throughout  with  life  and 
beauty,  hallowed  by  that  profound  religious  senti- 
ment which  suggested  the  offering,  and  which  the 
sympathetic  artist  seems  to  have  caught  from  the 
grateful  donor.  It  was  dedicated  in  the  church  of 
the  Ara-Coeli  at  Rome,  which  belongs  to  the  Fran- 
ciscans ;  hence  St.  Francis  is  one  of  the  principal 
figures.  When  I  was  asked,  at  Rome,  why  St. 
Jerome  had  been  introduced  into  the  picture,  I 
thought  it  might  be  thus  accounted  for:  —  The 
patron  saint  of  the  donor,  St.  Sigismund,  was  a 
king  and  a  warrior,  and  Conti  might  ppssibly  think 
that  it  did   not  accord  with   his  profession,  as  ai 


FAMILY   VOnVE    MADONNAS.  219 

kumble  ecclesiastic,  to  Introduce  him  here.  The 
most  celebrated  convent  of  the  Jeroniniites  in  Italy 
IS  that  of  St.  Sl^smund  near  Cremona,  placed 
under  the  special  protection  of  St.  Jerome,  who  is 
also  in  a  general  sense  the  patron  of  all  ecclesias- 
tics ;  hence,  perhaps,  he  figures  here  as  the  protec- 
tor of  SIgismund  Conti.  The  picture  was  painted, 
and  placed  over  the  high  altar  of  the  Ara-Coeli  in 
1511,  when  Raphael  was  in  his  twenty-eighth  year. 
Conti  died  in  1512,  and  in  1565  his  grandniece, 
Suora  Anna  Conti,  obtained  permission  to  remove 
it  to  her  convent  at  Foligno,  whence  it  was  carried 
off  by  the  French  in  1792.  Since  the  restoration 
of  the  works  of  art  in  Italy,  in  1815,  it  has  been 
placed  among  the  treasures  of  the  Vatican. 

2.  Another  perfect  specimen  of  a  votive  picture 
of  this  kind,  in  a  very  different  style,  I  saw  in  the 
museum  at  Rouen,  attributed  there  to  Van  Eyck. 
It  is,  probably,  a  fine  work  by  a  later  master  of  the 
Bohool,  perhaps  Hemmelinck.  In  the  centre,  the 
Virgin  is  enthroned;  the  Child,  seated  on  her 
knee,  holds  a  bunch  of  grapes,  symbol  of  the  eu- 
charist.  On  the  right  of  the  Virgin  is  St.  Apol- 
lonia;  then  two  lovely  angels  in  white  raiment, 
with  lutes  in  their  hands  ;  and  then  a  female  head, 
seen  looking  from  behind,  evidently  a  family  por- 
trait. More  in  front,  St.  Agnes,  splendidly  dressed 
in  green  and  sable,  her  lamb  at  ner  feet,  tumg 
with  a  questioning  air  to  St.  Catherine,  who,  in 
gueenly  garb  of  crimson  and  ermine  seems  to  con 


f20  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MADONNA. 

•ult  her  book.  Behind  her  another  member  of  the 
family,  a  man  with  a  very  fine  face  ;  and  more  in 
front  St.  Dorothea,  with  a  charming  expression  of 
modesty,  looks  down  on  her  basket  of  roses.  On 
the  left  of  the  Virgin  is  St.  Agatha;  then  two 
angels  in  white  with  viols;  then  St.  Cecilia;  and 
near  her  a  female  head,  another  family  portrait; 
next  St.  Barbara  wearing  a  beautiful  head-dress,  in 
front  of  which  is  worked  her  tower,  framed  like  an 
ornamental  jewel  in  gold  and  pearls;  she  has  a 
missal  in  her  lap.  St  Lucia  next  appears ;  then 
another  female  portrait.  All  the  heads  are  about 
one  fourth  of  the  size  of  life.  I  stood  in  admiration 
before  this  picture  —  such  miraculous  finish  in  all 
the  details,  such  life,  such  spirit,  such  delicacy  in  the 
heads  and  hands,  5uch  brilliant  colour  in  the  dra- 
peries !  Of  its  history  I  could  learn  nothing,  nor 
what  family  had  thus  introduced  themselves  into 
celestial  companionship.  The  portraits  seemed  to 
me  to  represent  a  father,  a  mother,  and  two 
daughters. 

I  must  mention  some  other  instances  of  votiv« 
Madonnas,  interesting  either  from  their  beauty  or 
their  singularity. 

3.  Rdn^,  Duke  of  Anjou,  and  King  of  Sicily  and 
Jerusalem,  the  father  of  our  Amazonian  queen, 
Margaret  of  Anjou,  dedicated,  in  the  church  of  the 
Carmelites,  at  Aix,  the  capital  of  his  dominions,  a 
votive  picture,  which  is  still  to  be  seen  there.  It  if 
not  only  a  monument  of  his  piety,  but  of  hie  skill 


FAMILY   VOTIVE    MADONNAS.  '2%\ 

for,  according  to  the  tradition  of  the  country,  h« 
painted  it  himself.  The  good  King  Rene  was  nu 
contemptible  artist ;  but  though  he  may  have  sug- 
gested the  subject,  the  hand  of  a  practised  and  ac- 
complished painter  is  too  apparent  for  us  to  suppose 
it  his  own  work. 

This  altar-piece  in  a  triptychon,  and  when  the 
doors  are  closed  it  measures  twelve  feet  in  height, 
and  seven  feet  in  width.  On  the  outside  of  the 
doors  is  the  Annunciation  :  to  the  leftj  the  angel 
standing  on  a  pedestal,  under  a  Gothic  canopy ;  to 
the  right,  the  Virgin  standing  with  her  book,  under 
a  similar  canopy :  both  graceful  figures.  On  open- 
ing the  doors,  the  central  compartment  exhibits  the 
Virgin  and  her  Child  enthroned  in  a  burning  bush ; 
the  bush  which  burned  with  fire,  and  was  not  con- 
sumed, being  a  favourite  type  of  the  immaculate 
purity  of  the  Virgin.  Lower  down,  in  front,  Mo- 
ses appears  surrounded  by  his  flocks,  and  at  the 
command  of  an  angel  is  about  to  take  off  his 
sandals.  The  angel  is  most  richly  dressed,  and  on 
the  clasp  of  his  mantle  is  painted  in  minature  Adam 
and  Eve  tempted  by  the  serpent.  Underneath 
this  compartment,  is  the  inscription,  '*  Rubum  qiiem 
viderat  Moyses,  incombustum,  conservatam  agnovi- 
mus  tuam  la'j.dabilem  Virginitatem,  Sancta  De% 
Cenitrixr  *  On  the  door  to  the  right  of  the  Vir- 
gin  kneels  King  Ren^  himself  before  an  altar,  on 
which   lies  an   open   book  and  his  kingly  ciown 

*  For  the  relation  of  Moses  to  the  Virgu  (aa  attribute)  v.  tht 
Sntroduction. 

15 


tZt  LEGENIS    OF    THE   MADONNA. 

He  is  dressed  in  a  robe  trimmed  with  erm-iie,  and 
wears  a  black  velvet  cap.  Behind  him,  Mary  Mag- 
dalene (the  patroness  of  Provence),  St  Antony 
and  St.  Maurice.  On  the  other  door,  i  ^nne  de 
Laval,  the  second  wife  of  ^ene,  kneels  before  an 
open  book ;  she  is  young  and  beautiful,  and  richly 
attired ;  and  behind  her  stand  St.  John  (her  patron 
saint),  St.  Catherine  (very  noble  and  elegant),  and 
St.  Nicholas.  I  saw  this  curious  and  interesting 
picture  in*  1846.  It  is  very  well  preserved,  and 
painted  with  great  finish  and  delicacy  in  the  man- 
ner of  the  early  Flemish  school. 

4.  In  a  beautiful  little  picture  by  Van  Eyck 
(Louvre,  No.  162.  Ecole  AUemande),  the  Vir- 
gin is  seated  on  a  throne,  holding  in  her  arms  the 
infant  Christ,  who  has  a  globe  in  his  left  hand,  and 
extends  the  right  in  the  act  of  benediction.  The 
Virgin  is  attired  as  a  queen,  in  a  magnificent  rob€ 
falling  in  ample  folds  around  her,  and  trimmed 
with  jewels;  an  angel,  hovering  with  outspread 
wings,  holds  a  crown  over  her  head.  On  the  left 
of  the  picture,  a  votary,  in  the  dress  of  a  FlemisL 
burgomaster,  kneels  before  a  Prie-Dieu,  on  which 
is  an  open  book,  and  with  clasped  hands  adores  the 
Mother  and  her  Child.  The  locality  represents  a 
gallery  or  portico  paved  with  marble,  and  sustained 
by  pillars  in  a  fantastic  Moorish  style.  The  whole 
Dicture  is  quite  exquisite  for  the  delicacy  of  colour 
and  execution.  In  the  catalogue  of  the  Louvre» 
this  picture  is  entitled  "  St.  Joseph  adoring  the  In 
fant  Christ," — an  obvious  mistake,  if  we  considef 


FAMILY   VOTIVE    MADONNAS.  22S 

khe  style  of  the  treatment  and  the  customs  of  the 
time. 

5.  All  who  have  visited  the  church  of  the  Frari  at 
Venice  will  remember  —  for  once  seen,  they  never 
can  forget — the  ex-voto  altar-piece  which  adorns  the 
chapel  of  the  Pesaro  family.  The  beautiful  Virgin 
is  seated  on  a  lofty  throne  to  the  right  of  the  pic- 
ture, and  presses  to  her  bosom  the  Dio  Bambinetto. 
who  turns  from  her  to  bless  the  votary  presented 
by  St.  Peter.  The  saint  stands  on  the  steps  of  the 
throne,  one  hand  on  a  book;  and  behind  him 
kneels  one  of  the  Pesaro  family,  who  was  at  once 
bishop  of  Paphos  and  commander  of  the  Pope's  gal- 
leys ;  he  approaches  to  consecrate  to  the  Madonna 
the  standards  taken  from  the  Turks,  which  are 
borne  by  St.  George,  as  patron  of  Venice.  On 
the  other  side  appear  St.  Francis  and  St.  Antony 
of  Padua,  as  patrons  of  the  church  in  which  the 
picture  is  dedicated.  Lower  down,  kneeling  on  one 
ride  of  the  throne,  is  a  group  of  various  members 
of  the  Pesaro  family,  three  of  whom  are  habited  in 
enmson  robes,  as  Cavalieri  di  San  Marco;  the 
other,  a  youth  about  fifteen,  looks  out  of  the  picture, 
astonishingly  alive,  and  yet  sufficiently  idealized  to 
harmonize  with  the  rest.  This  picture  is  very  re- 
markable for  several  reasons.  It  is  a  piece  of  fam- 
ily history,  curiously  illustrative  of  the  manners  of 
the  time.  The  Pesaro  here  commemorated  was  an 
ecclesiastic,  but  appointed  by  Alexander  VI.  to 
command  the  galleys  with  which  he  joined  th» 
Venetian  forces  against  the  Turks  in  1503.    It  it 


824  LEGENDS   OF   THE   MADONNA. 

for  this  reason  that  St.  Peter  —  as  representative 
here  of  the  Roman  pontiff —  introduces  him  to  the 
Madonna,  while  St.  George,  as  patron  of  Venice, 
attends  him.  The  picture  is  a  monument  of  the 
Tictory  gained  by  Pesaro,  and  the  gratitude  and 
pride  of  his  family.  It  is  also  one  of  the  finest 
works  of  Titian ;  one  of  the  earliest  instances  in 
which  a  really  grand  religious  composition  assumes 
almost  a  dramatic  and  scenic  form,  yet  retains  a 
certain  dignity  and  symmetry  worthy  of  its  sol- 
emn destination.* 

6.  I  will  give  one  more  instance.  There  is  in 
our  National  Gallery  a  Venetian  picture  which  is 
striking  from  its  peculiar  and  characteristic  treat- 
ment. On  one  side,  the  Virgin  with  her  Infant  is 
seated  on  a  throne ;  a  cavalier,  wearing  armour 
and  a  turban,  who  looks  as  if  he  had  just  returned 
from  the  eastern  wars,  prostrates  himself  before 
her:  in  the  background,  a  page  (said  to  be  the 
portrait  of  the  painter)  holds  the  horse  of  the  vo- 
tary. The  figures  are  life-sire,  or  nearly  so,  as 
well  as  I  can  remember,  and  the  sentimental  dra- 
matic treatment  is  quite  Venetian.  It  is  supposed 
to  represent  a  certain  Duccio  Constanzo  of  Tre- 

•  We  find  in  the  catalogue  of  pictures  which  belonged  to  our 
Charles  I.  one  which  represented  "a  pope  preferring  a  genera] 
of  his  nary  to  St.  Peter."  It  is  Pope  Alexander  VI.  presenting 
this  very  Pesaro  to  St  Peter;  that  is,  in  plain  unpictorial  prose, 
fiving  him  the  appointment  of  admiral  of  the  galleys  of  thf 
Roman  states.  This  interesting  picture,  after  many  TicissHudea 
k  now  in  the  Museum  at  Antwerp.  (See  the  Handbook  to  tk 
Ho^  QaUeries,  p.  201.) 


HALF-LENGTH   ENTHRONED    MADONNAS,    22ft 

»iso,  and  was  once  attributed  to  Giorgione :  it  i« 
certainly  of  the  school  of  Bellini.  (Nat.  Gal.  Cata- 
logue, 234.) 

As  these  enthroned  and  votive  Virgins  multi- 
plied, as  it  became  more  and  more  a  fashion  to 
dedicate  them  as  offerings  in  churches,  want  of 
Bpace,  and  perhaps,  also,  regard  to  expense,  sug- 
gested the  idea  of  representing  the  figures  hal^ 
length.  The  Venetians,  from  early  time  the  best 
face  painters  in  the  world,  appear  to  have  been  the 
first  to  cut  off  the  lower  part  of  the  figure,  leaving 
the  arrangement  otherwise  much  the  same.  The 
Virgin  is  still  a  queenly  and  majestic  creature,  sit- 
ting there  to  be  adored.  A  curtain  or  part  of  a 
carved  chair  represents  her  throne.  The  attend- 
ant saints  are  placed  to  the  right  and  to  the  left ;  or 
sometimes  the  throne  occupies  one  side  of  the  pic- 
ture, and  the  saints  are  ranged  on  the  other.  From 
the  shape  and  diminished  size  of  these  votive  pic- 
tures the  personages,  seen  half-length,  are  necessar 
rily  placed  very  near  to  each  other,  and  the  heads 
nearly  on  a  level  with  that  of  the  Virgin,  who  ia 
generally  seen  to  the  knees,  while  the  Child  ia 
always  full-length.  In  such  compositions  we  miss 
the  grandeur  of  the  entire  forms,  and  the  con- 
sequent diversity  of  character  and  attitude;  but 
lometimes  the  beauty  and  individuality  of  the  heads 
intone  for  all  other  deficiencies. 

In  the  earlier  Venetian  examples,  those  of  Gian 


126  LEGENDS  cF    THE   MADOXNA. 

Bellini  particularly,  there  is  a  solemn  quiet  eleva 
tion  which  renders  them  little  inferior,  in  reli^ouf 
Bentiment,  to  the  most  majestic  of  the  enthroned 
and  enskied  Madonnas. 

There  is  a  sacred  group  by  Bellini,  in  the  po«- 
lession  of  Sir  Charles  Eastlake,  which  has  alwayi 
appeared  to  me  a  very  perfect  specimen  of  thJa 
class  of  pictures.  It  is  also  the  earliest  I  know  of. 
The  Virgin,  pensive,  sedate,  and  sweet,  like  all 
Bellini's  Virgins,  is  seated  in  the  centre,  and  seen 
in  front.  The  Child,  on  her  knee,  blesses  with  hia 
right  hand,  and  the  Virgin  places  hers  on  the  head 
of  a  votary,  who  just  appears  above  the  edge  of 
the  picture,  with  hands  joined  in  prayer ;  he  is  a 
fine  young  man  with  an  elevated  and  elegant  pro- 
file. On  the  right  are  St.  John  the  Baptist  point- 
ing to  the  Saviour,  and  St.  Catherine ;  on  the  left, 
St.  George  with  his  banner,  and  St.  Peter  holding 
his  book.  A  similar  picture,  with  Mary  Magdalene 
and  St.  Jerome  on  the  right,  St.  Peter  and  St. 
Martha  on  the  left,  is  in  the  Leuchtenberg  Gallery 
at  Munich.  Another  of  exquisite  beauty  is  in  the 
Venice  Academy,  in  which  the  lovely  St.  Cathe- 
inne  wears  a  crown  of  myrtle. 

Once  introduced,  these  half-length  enthroned 
Madonnas  became  very  common,  spreading  from 
the  Venetian  states  through  the  north  of  Italy, 
and  we  find  innumerable  examples  from  the  best 
schools  of  art  in  Italy  and  Germany,  from  the  mid 
41e  of  the  fifteenth  to  the  middle  of  the  sixteentli 


HALF-LENGTH  ENTHRONED  MADONNAS  22'> 

century.  I  shall  particularize  a  few  of  these,  which 
will  be  sufficient  to  guide  the  attention  of  the  ob- 
Berver;  and  we  must  carefully  discriminate  be- 
tween the  sentiment  proper  to  these  half-length 
enthroned  Madonnas,  and  the  pastoral  or  domestic 
sacred  groups  and  Holy  Families,  of  which  I  shall 
have  to  treat  hereafter. 

Raphael's  well-known  Madonna  della  Seggiola 
and  Madonna  della  Candelabra,  are  both  enthroned 
Virgins  in  the  grand  style,  though  seen  half-length 
In  fact,  the  air  of  the  head  ought,  in  the  higher 
schools  of  art,  at  once  to  distinguish  a  Madonna  m 
irono,  even  where  only  the  head  is  visible. 

In  a  Milanese  picture,  the  Virgin  and  Child  appear 
between  St.  Laurence  and  St.  John.  The  mannered 
and  somewhat  affected  treatment  is  contrasted  with 
the  quiet,  solemn  simplicity  of  a  group  by  Francia, 
where  the  Virgin  and  Child  appear  as  objects  of 
worship  between  St.  Dominick  and  St.  Barbara. 

The  Child,  standing  or  seated  on  a  table  or  bal- 
ustrade in  front,  enabled  the  painter  to  vary  the 
attitude,  to  take  the  infant  Christ  out  of  the  arms 
of  the  Mother,  and  to  render  his  figure  more  prom- 
ment.  It  was  a  favourite  arrangement  with  the 
Venetians ;  and  there  is  an  instance  in  a  pretty  pic- 
ture in  our  National  Gallery,  attributed  to  Perugino. 

Sometimes,  even  where  the  throne  and  the  at- 
fcendant  saints  and  angels  show  the  group  to  be 
wholly  devotional  and  exalted,  we  find  the  senti- 
lient  varied  by  a  touch  of  the  dramatic,  —  by  the 


228  LEGENDS   OF    THE   MADONNA. 

introduction  of  an  action;  but  it  must  be  on« 
of  a  wholly  religious  significance,  suggestive  of  a 
religious  feeling,  or  the  subject  ceases  tc  be  prop- 
erly devotional  in  character. 

There  is  a  picture  by  Botticelli,  before  which,  in 
walking  up  the  corridor  of  the  Florence  Gallery,  1 
used,  day  after  day,  to  make  an  involuntary  pause 
of  admiration.  The  Virgin,  seated  in  a  chair  of 
state,  but  seen  only  to  the  knees,  sustains  her  divine 
Son  with  one  arm ;  four  angels  are  in  attendance, 
one  of  whom  presents  an  ink  horn,  another  holda 
before  her  an  open  book,  and  she  is  in  the  act  of 
writing  the  Magnificat,  "  My  soul  doth  magnify  the 
Lord ! "  The  head  of  the  figure  behind  the  Virgin 
is  the  portrait  of  Lorenzo  de*  Medici  when  a  boy. 
There  is  absolutely  no  beauty  of  feature,  either  in 
the  Madonna,  or  the  Child,  or  the  angels,  yet  every 
face  is  full  of  dignity  and  character. 

In  a  beautiful  picture  by  Titian  (Bel.  Gal.,  Vi- 
enna. Louvre,  No.  458),  the  Virgin  is  enthroned 
on  the  left,  and  on  the  right  appear  St.  George  and 
St.  Laurence  as  listening,  while  St.  Jerome  reads 
from  his  great  book.  A  small  copy  of  this  picture 
is  at  Windsor. 

The  old  German  and  Flemish  painters,  in  treat- 
ing the  enthroned  Madonna,  sometimes  introduced 
accessories  which  no  painter  of  the  early  Italian 
ichool  would  have  descended  to ;  and  which  tinge 
with  a  homely  sentiment  their  most  exalted  con- 
teptions.     Thus,  I  have  seen  a  German  Madonni 


THE   MATER    AMABILIS.  229 

ieated  on  a  superb  throne,  and  most  elaborately 
and  gorgeously  arrayed,  pressing  her  Child  to  hef 
bosom  with  a  truly  maternal  air  ;  while  beside  her, 
on  a  table,  is  a  honeycomb,  some  butter,  a  dish  of 
fruit,  and  a  glass  of  water.  (Bel.  Gal.,  Vienna.)  It 
is  possible  that  in  this  case,  as  in  the  Virgin  suck- 
ling her  Child,  there  may  be  a  religious  allusion :  — 
**  Butter  and  honey  shall  he  eat,**  &c. 


THE  MATER  AMABILIS. 

IkU.  La  Madonna  col  Bambino.  La  Madonna  col  celeste  auo 
Figlio.  Fr.  La  Yierge  et  I'enfant  Jesus.  Ger.  Maria  mit  dem 
Kind. 

There  is  yet  another  treatment  of  the  Madonna 
and  Child,  in  which  the  Virgin  no  longer  retains 
the  lofty  goddess-like  exaltation  given  to  her  in  the 
old  time.  She  is  brought  nearer  to  our  sympathies. 
She  is  not  seated  in  a  chair  of  state  with  the  ac- 
companiments of  earthly  power;  she  is  not  en- 
throned on  clouds,  nor  glorified  and  star-crowned 
in  heaven;  she  is  no  longer  so  exclusively  the 
Vergine  Dea,  nor  the  Virgo  Dei  Genitrix  ; 
but  she  is  still  the  Alma  Mater  Redemptoris, 
the  young,  and  lovely,  and  most  pure  mother  of  a 
iivine  Christ.  She  is  not  sustained  in  mid-air  by 
ftngeis ;  she  dwells  lowly  on  earth ;  but  the  angels 
leave  their  celestial  home  to  wait  upon  her.  Such 
gffigies,  when  conceived  in  a  strictly  ideal  and  de- 
votional sense,  I  shall  designate  as  the  Mates 

4.MABILIS. 


^0  LEGENDS   OF    THE   MADONNA. 

The  fii'st  and  simplest  form  of  this  beautiful  and 
familiar  subject,  we  find  in  those  innumerable  half- 
length  figures  of  the  Madonna  holding  her  Child  in 
her  arms,  painted  chiefly  for  oratories,  private  of 
way-side  chapels,  and  for  the  studies,  libraries,  and 
retired  chambers  of  the  devout,  as  an  excitement  to 
religious  feeling,  and  a  memorial  of  the  mystery  of 
the  Incarnation,  where  large  or  grander  subjeeta, 
or  more  expensive  pictures,  would  be  misplaced. 
Though  unimportant  in  comparison  with  the  com- 
prehensive and  magnificent  church  altar-pieces 
already  described,  there  is  no  class  of  pictures  so 
popular  and  so  attractive,  none  on  which  the  char- 
acter of  the  time  and  the  painter  is  stamped  more 
clearly  and  intelligibly,  than  on  these  simple  repre- 
sentations. 

The  Virgin  is  not  here  the  dispenser  of  mercy ;  she 
is  simply  the  mother  of  the  Redeemer.  She  is  occu- 
pied only  by  her  divine  Son.  She  caresses  him,  or 
she  gazes  on  him  fondly.  She  presents  him  to  the 
worshipper.  She  holds  him  forth  with  a  pensive 
joy  as  the  predestined  ofiering.  If  the  profound 
religious  sentiment  of  the  early  masters  was  after- 
wards obliterated  by  the  unbelief  and  convention- 
alism of  later  art,  still  this  favourite  subject  could 
not  be  so  wholly  profaned  by  degrading  sentiments 
and  associations,  as  the  mere  portrait  heads  of  the 
Virgin  alone.  No  matter  what  the  model  for  the 
Madonna  might  have  been,  —  a  wife,  a  mistress,  a 
contadina  of  Frascati,  a  Venetian  Zitella,  a  McUl 
zhen  of  Nuremberg,  a  buxom  Flemish  Ftow^^ 


THE   MATER   AMABILIS.  281 

ft>T  the  Child  was  there ;  the  baby  innocence  in 
her  arms  consecrated  her  into  that  "holiest  thing 
ilive,"  a  mother.  The  theme,  however  inadequately 
treated  as  regarded  Its  religious  significance,  waa 
sanctified  in  itself  beyond  the  reach  of  a  profane 
thought.  Miserable  beyond  the  reach  of  hope, 
dark  below  despair,  that  moral  atmosphere  which 
the  presence  of  sinless  unconscious  infancy  cannot 
for  a  moment  purify  or  hallow  I 

Among  the  most  ancient  and  most  venerable  of 
the  effigies  of  the  Madonna,  we  find  the  old  Greek 
pictures  of  the  Mater  Amabilis,  if  that  epithet  can 
be  properly  applied  to  the  dark-coloured,  sad- vis- 
aged  Madonnas  generally  attributed  to  St.  Luke, 
or  transcripts  of  those  said  to  be  painted  by  him, 
which  exist  in  so  many  churches,  and  are,  or  were, 
supposed  by  the  people  to  possess  a  peculiar  sanc- 
tity. These  are  almost  all  of  oriental  origin,  or 
painted  to  imitate  the  pictures  brought  from  the 
East  in  the  tenth  or  twelfth  century.  There  are  a 
few  striking  and  genuine  examples  of  these  ancient 
Greek  Madonnas  in  the  Florentine  Gallery,  and, 
nearer  at  hand,  in  the  Wallerstein  collection  at 
Kensington  Palace.  They  much  resemble  each 
other  in  the  general  treatment. 

The  infinite  variety  which  painters  have  given 
to  this  most  simple  motif,  the  Mother  and  the  Child 
only,  without  accessories  or  accompaniments  of  any 
kind,  exceeds  all  possibility  of  classification,  either 
AS  to  attitude  or  sentiment.  Here  Raphael  shone 
•upreme :  the  simplicity,  the  tenderness,  the  hal< 


f82  LEGENDS    OF    THE   MADONNA. 

of  purity  and  virginal  dignity,  which  he  thren 
round  the  Mater  Amabilis  have  never  been  sur 
passed  —  in  his  best  pictures,  never  equalled.  The 
*'  Madonna  del  Gran-Duca,"  where  the  Virgin  holdi 
the  Child  seated  on  her  arm  ;  the  "  Madonna  Tem- 
pi," where  she  so  fondly  presses  her  cheek  to  his, 
—  are  perhaps  the  most  remarkable  for  simplicity. 
The  Madonna  of  the  Bridge  water  Gallery,  where 
the  Infant  lies  on  her  knees,  and  the  Mother  and 
Son  look  into  each  other's  eyes ;  the  little  "  Madon- 
na Conestabile,"  where  she  holds  the  book,  and  the 
infant  Christ,  with  a  serious  yet  perfectly  childish 
grace,  bends  to  turn  over  the  leaf,  —  are  the  most 
remarkable  for  sentiment. 

Other  Madonnas  by  Raphael,  containing  three 
or  more  figures,  do  not  belong  to  this  class  of  pic- 
tures. They  are  not  strictly  devotional,  but  are 
properly  Holy  Families,  groups  and  scenes  from 
the  domestic  life  of  the  Virgin. 

With  regard  to  other  painters  before  or  since  his 
time,  the  examples  of  the  Mater  Amabilis  so 
abound  in  public  and  private  galleries,  and  have 
been  so  multiplied  in  prints,  that  comparison  is 
within  the  reach  of  every  observer.  I  will  content 
myself  with  noticing  a  few  of  the  most  remarkable 
for  beauty  or  characteristic  treatment.  Two  paint- 
ers, who  eminently  sxcelled  in  simplicity  and  puri- 
ty of  sentiment,  are  Gian  Bellini  of  Venice,  and 
Bernardino  Luini  of  Milan.  Squarcione,  though 
often  fantastic,  has  painted  one  or  two  of  these 
Madonnas,  remarkable  for  simplicity  and  dignity 


THE   MATER   AMABILISJ.  231 

AS  also  his  pupdl  Mantegna ;  though  in  both  the 
ityle  of  execution  is  somewhat  hard  and  cold.  In 
the  one  by  Fra  Bartolomeo,  there  is  such  a  depth 
of  maternal  tenderness  in  the  expression  and  atti- 
tude, we  wonder  where  the  good  monk  found  hia 
mcdel.  In  his  own  heart  ?  in  his  dreams  ?  A 
Mater  Amabilis  by  one  of  the  Caracci  or  by  Van- 
dyck  is  generally  more  elegant  and  dignified  than 
tender.  The  Madonna,  for  instance,  by  Annibal, 
has  something  of  the  majestic  sentiment  of  an  en- 
throned Madonna.  Murillo  excelled  in  this  subject ; 
although  most  of  his  Virgins  have  a  portrait  air  of 
common  life,  they  are  redeemed  by  the  expression. 
In  one  of  these,  the  Child,  looking  out  of  the  pic- 
ture with  extended  arms  and  eyes  full  of  divinity, 
seems  about  to  spring  forth  to  fulfil  his  mission. 
In  another  he  folds  his  little  hands,  and  looks  up 
to  Heaven,  as  if  devoting  himself  to  his  appointed 
sufiering,  while  the  Mother  looks  down  upon  him 
with  a  tender  resignation.  (Leuchtenberg  Gal.) 
In  a  noble  Madonna  by  Vandyck  (Bridgewater 
Gal.),  it  is  she  herself  who  devotes  him  to  do  hia 
Father's  will;  and  I  still  remember  a  picture  of 
this  class,  by  Carlo  Cignani  (Belvedere  Gal.,  Vi- 
enna), which  made  me  start,  with  the  intense  ex- 
pression :  the  Mother  presses  to  her  the  Child,  who 
holds  a  cross  in  his  baby  hand ;  she  looks  up  to 
heaven  with  an  appealing  look  of  love  and  an- 
guish, —  almost  of  reproach.  Guido  did  not  excel 
eo  much  in  children,  as  in  the  Virgin  alone.  Pons- 
•in,  Carlo  Dolce,  Sasso  Ferrate,  and,  in  general,  all 


234  LEGENDS    OF   THE   MADONNA. 

the  painters  of  the  seventeenth  century,  give  us 
pretty  women  and  pretty  children.  We  may  pas« 
them  over. 

A  second  version  of  the  Mater  Amabilis,  repre- 
senting the  Virgin  and  Child  full-length,  but  with- 
out accessories,  has  been  also  very  beautifully 
treated.  She  is  usually  seated  in  a  landscape,  and 
frequently  within  the  mystical  enclosure  (Hortus 
clausus)^  which  is  sometimes  in  the  German  pio- 
tures  a  mere  palisade  of  stakes  or  boughs. 

Andrea  Mantegna,  though  a  fantastic  painter, 
had  generally  some  meaning  in  his  fancies.  There 
is  a  fine  picture  of  his  in  which  the  Virgin  and 
Child  are  seated  in  a  landscape,  and  in  the  back- 
ground is  a  stone-quarry,  where  a  number  of  fig- 
ures are  seen  busily  at  work ;  perhaps  hewing  the 
stone  to  build  the  new  temple  of  which  our  Sav- 
iour was  the  corner-stone.  (Florence  Gal.)  In  a 
group  by  Cristofano  Allori,  the  Child  places  a 
wreath  of  flowers  on  the  brow  of  his  Mother,  hold- 
ing in  his  other  hand  his  own  crown  of  thorns  :  one 
of  the  fancies  of  the  later  schools  of  art. 

The  introduction  of  the  little  St  John  into  the 
group  of  the  Virgin  and  Child  lends  it  a  charming 
significance  and  variety,  and  is  very  popular ;  we 
must,  however,  discriminate  between  the  familiarity 
of  the  domestic  subject  and  the  purely  religious 
treatment.  When  the  Giovannino  adores  with 
'olded  hands,  as  acknowledging  in  Chriw  a  supe- 
rior power,  or  kisses  his  feet  humbly,  xx  •por.ntg  to 
biin  exulting,  then  it  is  evident  that  ^re  liav  **if 


THE    MATER   AMABILI8.  235 

iwo  Children  in  their  spiritual  character,  the  Child, 
Priest  and  King,  and  the  Child,  Prophet. 

In  a  picture  by  Lionardo  da  Vinci  (Coll.  of  the 
Earl  of  Suffolk),  the  Madonna,  serious  and  beauti- 
ful, without  either  crown  or  veil,  and  adorned  only 
by  her  long  fair  hair,  is  seated  on  a  rock.  On  one 
Bide,  the  little  Christ,  supported  in  the  arms  of  an 
angel,  raises  his  hand  in  benediction ;  on  the  other 
Bide,  the  young  St.  John,  presented  by  the  Virgin, 
kneels  in  adoration. 

Where  the  Children  are  merely  embracing  each 
other,  or  sporting  at  the  5ftet  of  the  Virgin,  or  play- 
ing with  the  cross,  or  with  a  bird,  or  with  the  lamb, 
or  with  flowers,  we  might  call  the  treatment  do- 
mestic or  poetical ;  but  where  St.  John  is  taking 
the  cross  from  the  hand  of  Christ,  it  is  clear,  from 
the  perpetual  repetition  of  the  theme,  that  it  is 
intended  to  express  a  religious  allegory.  It  is  the 
mission  of  St.  John  as  Baptist  and  Prophet.  He 
receives  the  symbol  of  faith  ere  he  goes  forth  to 
preach  and  to  convert,  or  as  it  has  been  inter- 
preted, he,  in  the  sense  used  by  our  Lord,  "  takes 
up  the  cross  of  our  Lord."  The  first  is,  I  think, 
the  meaning  when  the  cross  is  enwreathed  with 
the  Ecce  Agnus  Dei ;  the  latter,  when  it  is  a  sim- 
ple cross. 

In  Raphael's  "  Madonna  della  Famiglia  Alva," 
(now  in  the  Imp.  Gal.,  St.  Petersburg),  and  in  his 
Madonna  of  the  Vienna  Gallery,  Christ  gives  the 
Hross  to  St.  John.  In  a  picture  of  the  Lionardo 
•chool  in  the  Louvre  we  have  the  same  action ;  and 


236  LEGENDS   OF    THE   MADONNA. 

again  in  a  graceful  group  by  Guido,  which,  in  th« 
engraving,  bears  this  inscription,  "  Qui  non  accipU 
crucem  suam  non  est  me  dignus."  (Matt.  x.  38.) 
This,  of  course,  fixes  the  signification. 

Another,  and,  as  I  think,  a  wholly  fanciful  inter- 
pretation, has  been  given  to  this  favourite  group  by 
Tieck  and  by  Monckton  Milnes.  The  Children 
contend  for  the  cross.  The  little  St.  John  begs  to 
have  it. 

\jrive  me  the  cross,  I  pray  you,  dearest  Jesus ! 

O  if  you  knew  how  much  I  wish  to  have  it, 

You  would  not  hold  it  in  your  hand  so  tightly. 

Something  has  told  me,  something  in  my  breast  here, 

Which  I  am  sure  is  true,  that  if  you  keep  it, 

If  you  will  let  no  other  take  it  fi:om  you. 

Terrible  things  I  cannot  bear  to  think  of 

Must  fall  upon  you.    Show  me  that  you  love  me: 

Am  I  not  here  to  be  your  httle  servant. 

Follow  your  steps,  and  wait  upon  your  wishes?  " 

But  Christ  refuses  to  yield  the  terrible  plaything, 
and  claims  his  privilege  to  be  the  elder  "  in  the 
heritage  of  pain." 

In  a  picture  by  Carlo  Maratti,  I  think  this  action 
IS  evident  —  Christ  takes  the  cross,  and  St  John 
yields  it  with  reluctance. 

A  beautiful  version  of  the  Mater  Amabilis  is  the 
Madre  Pi  a,  where  the  Virgin  in  her  divine  In- 
fant acknowledges  and  adores  the  Godhead.  We 
must  be  caieful  to  distinguish  this  subject  from  the 
Nativity,  for  it  is  common,  in  the  scene  of  the  birtV 
•f  the  Saviour  at  Bethlehem,  to  represent  the  Vir 
gin  adoring  her  new-born  Child.     The  presence  0/ 


LA   MADRE   PIA.  237 

Joseph  —  the  ruined  shed  or  manger  —  the  ox  and 
ass,  —  these  express  the  event.  But  in  the  Madre 
PiA  properly  so  called,  the  locaHty,  and  the  acces- 
sories, if  any,  are  purely  ideal  and  poetical,  and 
have  no  reference  to  time  or  place.  The  early 
Florentines,  particularly  Lorenzo  di  Credi,  excelled 
in  this  charming  subject. 

There  is  a  picture  by  Filippino  Lippi,  which 
appears  to  me  eminently  beautiful  and  poetical. 
Here  the  mystical  garden  is  formed  of  a  balustrade, 
beyond  which  is  seen  a  hedge  all  in  a  blush  with 
roses.  The  Virgin  kneels  in  the  midst,  and  adores 
her  Infant,  who  has  his  finger  on  his  lip  ( Verhum 
sum  /) ;  an  angel  scatters  rose-leaves  over  him, 
while  the  little  St.  John  also  kneels,  and  four  an- 
gels, in  attitudes  of  adoration,  complete  the  group. 

But  a  more  perfect  example  is  the  Madonna  by 
Francia  in  the  Munich  Gallery,  where  the  divine 
Infant  lies  on  the  flowery  turf;  and  the  mother, 
standing  before  him  and  looking  down  on  him, 
seems  on  the  point  of  sinking  on  her  knees  in  a 
transport  of  tenderness  and  devotion.  This,  to  my 
feeling,  is  one  of  the  most  perfect  pictures  in  the 
world ;  it  leaves  nothing  to  be  desired.  With  all 
the  simplicity  of  the  treatment  it  is  strictly  devo- 
tional. The  Mother  and  her  Child  are  placed 
within  the  mystical  garden  enclosed  in  a  treillage 
of  roses,  alone  with  each  other,  and  apart  from  all 
earthly  associations,  all  earthly  communion. 

The  beautiful  altar-piece  by  Perugino  in  our 
National  Gallery  is  properly  a  Madre  Pia;  thu 
16 


238  LEGENDS    OF   THE   MADONNA. 

child  seated  on  a  cushion  is  sustained  by  an  angel 
the  mother  kneels  before  him. 

The  famous  Correggio  in  the  Florentine  Gallery 
is  also  a  Madre  Pia.  It  is  very  tender,  sweet,  and 
maternal.  The  Child  lying  on  part  of  his  moth- 
er's blue  mantle,  so  arranged  that  while  she  kneels 
and  bends  over  him,  she  cannot  change  her  atti- 
tude without  disturbing  him,  is  a  concetto  admired 
by  critics  in  sentiment  and  Art ;  but  it  appears  to 
me  very  inferior  and  commonplace  in  comparison 
to  the  Francia  at  Munich. 

In  a  group  by  Botticelli,  angels  sustain  the  In- 
fant, while  the  mother,  seated,  with  folded  hands, 
adores  him ;  and  in  a  favourite  composition  by 
Guido  he  sleeps. 

And,  lastly,  we  have  the  Mater  Amabilis  in  a 
more  complex  and  picturesque,  though  still  devo- 
tional, form.  The  Virgin,  seen  at  full  length,  re- 
clines on  a  verdant  bank,  or  is  seated  under  a  tree. 
She  is  not  alone  with  her  Child.  Holy  personages, 
jxdmitted  to  a  communion  with  her,  attend  around 
her,  rather  sympathizing  than  adoring.  The  love 
of  varied  nature,  the  love  of  life  under  all  'ts  as- 
pects, became  mingled  with  the  religious  concep 
tion.  Instead  of  carefully  avoiding  whatever  may 
remind  us  of  her  earthly  relationship,  the  members 
of  her  family  always  form  a  part  of  her  cortege^ 
This  pastoral  and  dramatic  treatment  began  with 
the  Venetian  and  Paduan  schools,  and  extended  to 
the  early  German  schools,  which  were  allied  U 
them  in  feeling,  though  contrasted  with  them  ii 
form  and  execution. 


PASTORAL   MADONNAS.  239 

The  perpetual  introduction  of  St.  Joseph,  St 
Elizabeth,  and  other  relatives  of  the  Virgin  (al 
ways  avoided  in  a  Madonna  dell  Trono),  would 
compose  what  is  called  a  Holy  Family,  but  that  the 
presence  of  sainted  personages  whose  existence  and 
history  belong  to  a  wholly  different  era  —  St.  Cath- 
erine, St.  George,  St.  Francis,  or  St.  Dominick  — 
takes  the  composition  out  of  the  merely  domestic 
and  historical,  and  lifts  it  at  once  into  the  ideal  and 
devotional  line  of  art.  Such  a  group  cannot  well 
be  styled  a  Sacra  Famiglia;  it  is  a  Sacra  Conversa^ 
zione  treated  in  the  pastoral  and  lyrical  rather  than 
the  lofty  epic  style. 

In  this  subject  the  Venetians,  who  first  intro- 
duced it,  excel  all  other  painters.  There  is  no  ex- 
ample by  Raphael.  The  German  and  Flemish 
painters  who  adopted  this  treatment  were  often 
coarse  and  familiar ;  the  later  Italians  became 
flippant  and  fantastic.  The  Venetians  alone 
knew  how  to  combine  the  truest  feeling  for  na- 
ture with  a  sort  of  Elysian  grace. 

I  shall  give  a  few  examples. 

1.  In  a  picture  by  Titian  (Dresden  Gal.),  the 
Virgin  is  seated  on  a  green  bank  enamelled  with 
flowers.  She  is  simply  dressed  like  a  contadina,  in 
a  crimson  tunic,  and  a  white  veil  half  shading  her 
fair  hair.  She  holds  in  her  arms  her  lovely  Infant, 
who  raises  his  little  hand  in  benediction.  St.  Cath- 
trine  kneels  before  him  on  one  side ;  on  the  other, 
St  Barbara.  St.  John  the  Baptist,  not  as  a  child. 
and  the  contemporary  of  our  Saviour,  but  in  I  ke- 


240  LEGENDS   OP   THE   MADOimA. 

ness  of  an  Arcadian  shepherd,  kneels  with  his  crosf 
and  his  lamb  —  the  E<:ce  Agnus  Dei^  expressed,  not 
in  words,  but  in  form.  St.  George  stands  by  as  a 
guardian  warrior.  And  St  Joseph,  leaning  on  his 
stick  behind,  contemplates  the  group  with  an  air  of 
dignified  complacency. 

2.  There  is  another  instance  also  from  Utian. 
In  a  most  luxuriant  landscape  thick  with  embower- 
ing trees,  and  the  mountains  of  Cadore  in  the  back- 
ground, the  Virgin  is  seated  on  a  verdant  bank; 
St.  Catherine  has  thrown  herself  on  her  knees,  and 
stretches  out  her  arms  to  the  divine  Child  in  an 
ecstasy  of  adoration,  in  which  there  is  nothing  un- 
seemly or  familiar.  At  a  distance  St.  John  the 
Baptist  approaches  with  his  lamb. 

3.  In  another  very  similar  group,  the  action  of 
St.  Catherine  is  rather  too  familiar, —  it  is  that  of 
an  elder  sister  or  a  nurse:  the  young  St  John 
kneels  in  worship. 

4.  Wonderfully  fine  is  a  picture  of  this  class  by 
Palma,  now  in  the  Dresden  Gallery.  The  noble, 
serious,  sumptuous  loveliness  of  the  Virgin ;  the 
exquisite  Child,  so  thoughtful,  yet  so  infantine ;  the 
manly  beauty  of  the  St  John ;  the  charming  humil- 
ity of  the  St  Catherine  as  she  presents  her  palm, 
Jbrm  one  of  the  most  perfect  groups  in  the  world. 
Childhood,  motherhood,  maidenhood,  manhood,  were 
never,  I  think,  combined  in  so  sweet  a  spirit  of  hi> 
manity.* 

•  When  I  was  at  Dresden,  In  1850, 1  fbtind  Stelnle,  so  oeW 
Wftted  for  his  engradngs  of  the  Madonna  di  San  Sisto  and  Chs 


PASTORAL  MADONNAS.  24i 

5.  In  another  picture  by  Palma,  in  the  same  gaU 
.ery,  we  have  the  same  picturesque  arrangement 
of  the  Virgin  and  Child,  while  the  little  St.  John 
adores  with  folded  hands,  and  St.  Catherine  sits  bv 
in  tender  contemplation. 

This  Arcadian  sentiment  is  carried  as  far  as  could 
well  be  allowed  in  a  picture  by  Titian  (Louvre, 
459),  known  as  the  Vierge  au  Lapin.  The  Virgin 
holds  a  white  rabbit,  towards  which  the  infant  Christ, 
in  the  arms  of  St.  Catherine,  eagerly  stretches  hig 
hand.  In  a  picture  by  Paris  Bordone  it  is  carried, 
I  think,  too  far.  The  Virgin  reclines  under  a  tree 
with  a  book  in  her  hand ;  opposite  to  her  sits  St. 
Joseph  holding  an  apple ;  between  them,  St.  John 
the  Baptist,  as  a  bearded  man,  holds  in  his  arms  the 
infant  Christ,  who  caressingly  puts  one  arm  round 
his  neck,  and  with  the  other  clings  to  the  rough 
hairy  raiment  of  his  friend. 

It  will  be  observed,  that  in  these  Venetian  exam^^ 
pies  St.  Catherine,  the  beloved  protectress  of  Ven 
'ce,  is  seldom  omitted.  She  is  not  here  the  learned^ 
princess  who  confounded  tyrants  and  converted 
philosophers,  but  a  bright-haired,  full-formed  Vene- 
tian maiden,  glowing  with  love  and  life,  yet  touched 
with  a  serious  grace,  inexpressibly  charming. 

St  Dorothea  is  also  a  favourite  saint  in  these 
•acre!  patorals.     There  is  an  instance  in  which 

Holbein  Madonna,  employed  on  this  picture ;  and,  as  far  as  hii 
trt  could  go,  transferring  to  his  copper  all  the  fervour  and  tb« 
morhid€zza  of  the  origin&\ 


1142  LEGENDfe    OF   THE   MADONNA. 

ihe.  is  seated  by  the  Virgin  with  her  basket  of  fruits 
and  flowers ;  and  St.  Jerome,  no  longer  beating 
his  breast  in  penance,  but  in  likeness  of  a  fond  old 
grandfather,  stretches  out  his  arms  to  the  Child. 
Much  finer  is  a.  picture  now  in  the  possession  of  Sif 
Charles  Eastlake.  The  lovely  Virgin  is  seated 
under  a  tree:  on  one  side  appears  the  angel 
Raphael,  presenting  Tobit ;  on  the  other,  St.  Dor- 
othea, kneeling,  holds  up  her  basket  of  celestial 
fruit,  gathered  for  her  in  Paradise.* 

When  St.  Ursula,  with  her  standard,  appears  in 
these  Venetian  pastorals,  we  may  suppose  the  pic- 
ture to  have  been  painted  for  the  famous  brother- 
hood {Scuola  di  Sanf  Orsola)  which  bears  her 
name.  Thus,  in  a  charming  picture  by  Palma,'she 
appears  before  the  Virgin,  accompanied  by  St.  Mark 
a  protector  of  Venice.  (Vienna,  Belvedere  Gal.) 

Ex-voto  pictures  in  this  style  are  very  interest- 
ing, and  the  votary,  without  any  striking  impro- 
priety, makes  one  of  the  Arcadian  group.  Very 
appropriate,  too,  is  the  marriage  of  St.  Catherine, 
often  treated  in  this  poetical  style.  In  a  picture  by 
Titian,  the  family  of  the  Virgin  attend  the  mysti- 
cal rite,  and  St.  Anna  places  the  hand  of  St.  Cath- 
erine in  that  of  the  Child. 

In  a  group  by  Signorelli,  Christ  appears  as  if 
teaching  St.  Catherine;  he  dictates,  and  she,  the 
patroness  of  "  divine  philosophy,"  writes  down  hii 
w^crds. 

*  See  Sacred  and  Legendary  Art,  for  the  beautiful  Legend 
It.  Dorothea. 


PASTORAL   MADONNAS.  241 

When  the  later  painters  in  their  great  altar- 
pieces  imitated  this  idyllic  treatment,  the  g/aceful 
Venetian  conception  became  in  their  hands  heavy, 
mannered,  tasteless,  —  and  sometimes  worse.  The 
monastic  saints  or  mitred  dignitaries,  introduced 
into  familiar  and  irreverent  communion  with  the 
sacred  and  ideal  personages,  in  spite  of  the  grand 
scenery,  strike  us  as  at  once  prosaic  and  fantastic 
"  we  marvel  how  they  got  there."  Parmigiano, 
when  he  fled  from  the  sack  of  Rome  in  1527, 
painted  at  Bologna,  for  the  nuns  of  Santa  Mar- 
gherita,  an  altar-piece  which  has  been  greatly  cele- 
Drated.  The  Madonna,  holding  her  Child,  is  seated 
m  a  landscape  under  a  tree,  and  turns  her  head  to 
the  Bishop  St.  Petronius,  protector  of  Bologna.  St. 
Margaret,  kneeling  and  attended  by  her  great 
dragon,  places  one  hand,  with  a  free  and  easy  air, 
on  the  knee  of  the  Virgin,  and  with  the  other 
seems  to  be  about  to  chuck  the  infant  Christ 
under  the  chin.  In  a  large  picture  by  Giacomo 
Francia,  the  Virgin,  walking  in  a  flowery  meadow 
with  the  infant  Christ  and  St.  John,  and  attended 
by  St.  Agnes  and  Mary  Magdal6ne,  meets  St. 
Francis  and  St.  Dominick,  also,  apparently,  taking 
a  walk.  (Berlin  Gal.  No.  281.)  And  again;  —  the 
Madonna  and  St.  Elizabeth  meet  with  their  chil- 
dren in  a  landscape,  while  St.  Peter,  St.  Paul,  and 
St  Benedict  stand  behind  in  attitudes  of  atten- 
tion and  admiration.  Now,  such  pictures  may  be 
ixcellently  well  painted,  greatly  praised  by  con- 
noisseurs, and  held  in  "  somma  venerazicne**  bu< 


144  LEGENDS   OF    THE    MADONNA. 

they  are  offensive  as  regards  the  religious  feelings 
and  are,  in  point  of  taste,  mannered,  fantastic,  and 
secular. 


Here  we  must  end  our  discourse  concerning  the 
Virgin  and  Child  as  a  devotional  subject.  Very 
easily  and  delightfully  to  the  writer,  perhaps  not 
painfully  to  the  reader,  we  might  have  gone  on  to 
the  end  of  the  volume ;  but  my  object  was  not  to 
exhaust  the  subject,  to  point  out  every  interesting 
variety  of  treatment,  but  to  lead  the  lover  of  art, 
wandering  through  a  church  or  gallery,  to  new 
sources  of  pleasure ;  to  show  him  what  infinite 
shades  of  feeling  and  character  may  still  be  traced 
in  a  subject  which,  with  all  its  beauty  and  attrac- 
tiveness, might  seem  to  have  lost  its  significant  in- 
terest, and  become  trite  from  endless  repetition  ;  to 
lead  the  mind  to  some  perception  of  the  intention 
of  the  artist  in  his  work,  —  under  what  aspect  he . 
had  himself  contemplated  and  placed  before  the 
worshipper  the  image  of  the  mother  of  Christ, — 
whether  crowned  and  enthroned  as  the  sovereign 
lady  of  Christendom;  or  exalted  as  the  glorious 
empress  of  heaven  and  all  the  spiritual  world ;  or 
bending  benignly  over  us,  the  impersonation  of 
sympathizing  womanhood,  the  emblem  of  relenting 
.ove,  the  solace  of  suffering  humanity,  the  maid 
and  mother,  dear  and  undefiled  — 

"  Created  beings  all  in  lowliness 
Surpassing,  as  in  height  above  them  all.** 


PASTORAL  MADONNAS.  24& 

It  is  time  to  change  the  scene, —  to  contemplate 
the  Virgin,  as  she  has  been  exhibited  to  us  in  the 
relations  of  earthly  life,  as  the  mere  woman,  acting 
and  suffering,  loving,  living,  dying,  fulfilling  the 
highest  destinies  in  the  humblest  state,  in  the  meek- 
est spirit.  So  we  begin  her  hbtory  as  the  ancient 
artists  have  placed  it  before  us,  with  that  mingled 
naivete  and  reverence,  that  vivid  dramatic  power, 
which  only  faiths  and  love,  and  genius  united,  could 
impart. 


HISTORICAL    SUBJECTS. 


PART  I. 

THE  LIFE  0}}  THE  VIRGIN  MARY  FROM 
HER  BIRTH  TO  HER  MARRIAGE  WITH 
JOSEPH. 

1.  THE  LEGEND  OP  JOACHIM  AND  ANNA. 
2  THE  NATIVITY  OP  THE  BLESSED  VIRGIN. 
8.  THE  DEDICATION  IN  THE  TEMPLE.  4.  THE 
MARRIAGE    WITH    JOSEPH. 

THE  LEGEND  OF  JOACHIM  AND  ANNA. 

ilo^.  La  Leggenda  di  Sant'  Anna  Madre  della  Gloriosa  Yergine 
Maria,  e  di  San  Gioacchino. 

Op  the  sources  whence  are  derived  the  popular 
legends  of  the  life  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  which,  mixed 
up  with  the  few  notices  in  Scripture,  formed  one 
continuous  narrative,  authorized  by  the  priesthood, 
and  accepted  and  believed  in  by  the  people,  I  have 
spoken  at  length  in  the  Introduction.  We  have 
now  to  consider  more  particularly  the  scenes  and 
characters  associated  with  her  history;  to  show 
how  the  artists  of  the  Middle  Ages,  under  the 
guidance  and  by  the  authority  of  the  Church 
treated  in  detail  these  favourite  themes  in  eccl© 
liaiftical  decoration. 


LEGEND  OF  JOACHIM  AND  ANNA.    24* 

In  isarly  art,  that  Is,  up  to  the  end  of  the  fifteenth 
eentury,  Joachim  and  Anna,  the  parents  of  the 
Virgin,  never  appear  except  in  the  series  of  sub- 
jects from  her  life.  In  the  devotional  groups  and 
ftltar-pieces,  they  are  omitted.  St.  Bernard,  the 
great  theological  authority  of  those  times,  objects  to 
the  invocation  of  any  saints  who  had  lived  before 
the  birth  of  Christ,  consequently  to  their  introduc- 
tion into  ecclesiastical  edifices  in  any  other  light 
than  as  historical  personages.  Hence,  perhaps, 
there  were  scruples  relative  to  the  representations 
of  St.  Anna,  which,  from  the  thirteenth  to  the  fif- 
teenth century,  placed  the  artists  under  certain 
restrictions. 

Under  the  name  of  Anna,  the  Church  has  hon- 
oured, from  remote  times,  the  memory  of  the 
mother  of  the  Virgin.  The  Hebrew  name,  signi- 
fying Gracej  or  the  Gracious^  and  all  the  traditions 
concerning  her,  came  to  us  from  the  East,  where 
she  was  so  early  venerated  as  a  saint,  that  a  church 
was  dedicated  to  her  by  the  Emperor  Justinian, 
in  550.  Several  other  churches  were  subsequently 
dedicated  to  her  in  Constantinople  during  the  sixth 
and  seventh  centuries,  and  her  remains  are  said  to 
have  been  deposited  there  in  710.  In  the  West, 
she  first  became  known  in  the  reign  of  Charle- 
magne ;  and  the  Greek  apocryphal  gospels,  or  at 
least  stories  and  extracts  from  them,  began  to  be 
circulated  about  the  same  period.  From  these  are 
derived  the  historic  scenes  and  legendary  subjecsta 
felating  to  Joachim  and  Anna  which   appear  in 


248  LEGENDS   OP   THE    MADONNA. 

early  art  It  was  about  1500,  in  the  beginning  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  that  the  increasing  venera- 
tion for  the  Virgin  Mary  gave  to  her  parents,  mor« 
especially  to  St.  Anna,  increased  celebrity  as  pa- 
tron saints  ;  and  they  became,  thenceforward,  more 
frequent  characters  in  the  sacred  groups.  The 
feast  of  St.  Anna  was  already  general  and  populai 
throughout  Europe  long  before  it  was  rendered  ob* 
ligatory  in  1584.*  The  growing  enthusiasm  for  the 
doctrine  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  gave,  of 
course,  additional  splendour  and  importance  to  her 
character.  Still,  it  is  only  in  later  times  that  we 
find  the  ef^gy  of  St.  Anna  separated  from  that  of 
the  Virgin.  There  is  a  curious  picture  by  Cesi 
(Bologna  Gal.),  in  which  St.  Anna  kneels  before  a 
vision  of  her  daughter  before  she  is  born  —  the  Vir- 
gin of  the  Immaculate  Conception.  A  fine  model 
of  a  bearded  man  was  now  sometimes  converted 
into  a  St.  Joachim  reading  or  meditating,  instead  of 
a  St.  Peter  or  a  St  Jerome,  as  heretofore.  In  the 
Munich  Gallery  are  two  fine  ancient-looking  fig- 
ures of  St  Joachim  the  father,  and  St  Joseph  the 
husband,  of  the  Virgin,  standing  together ;  but  aU 
these  as  separate  representations,  are  very  uncom- 
mon ;  and,  of  those  which  exhibit  St  Anna  devo- 
tionally,  as  enthroned  with  the  Virgin  and  Child,  I 
have  already  spoken.  Like  St  Elizabeth,  she 
should  be  an  elderly,  but  not  a  vert/  old  woman. 
Joachim,  in  such  pictures,  never  appears  but  as  ar 

*  In  England  we  have  twenty-eight  chnrohee  dedicated  in  tlM 
mme  of  St.  i 


LEGEND  OF  JOACHIM  AND  ANNA.    24\ 

attendant  saint,  and  then  very  rarely  ;  always  very 
old,  and  sometimes  in  the  dress  of  a  priest,  which 
however,  is  a  mistake  on  the  part  of  the  artist. 


A  complete  series  of  the  history  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  as  imaged  forth  by  the  early  artists,  al- 
ways begins  with  the  legend  of  Joachim  and  An- 
na, which  is  thus  related. 

"  There  was  a  man  of  Nazareth,  whose  name 
was  Joachim,  and  he  had  for  his  wife  a  woman  of 
Bethlehem,  whose  name  was  Anna,  and  both  were 
of  the  royal  race  of  David.  Their  lives  were  pure 
and  righteous,  and  they  served  the  Lord  with  sin- 
gleness of  heart.  And  being  rich,  they  divided  their 
substance  into  three  portions,  one  for  the  service  of 
the  temple,  one  for  the  poor  and  the  strangers,  and 
the  third  for  their  household.  On  a  certain  feast 
day,  Joachim  brought  double  offerings  to  the  Lord 
according  to  his  custom,  for  he  said,  *  Out  of  my  su- 
perfluity will  I  give  for  the  whole  people,  that  I 
may  find  favour  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and  for- 
giveness for  my  sins.*  And  when  the  children  of 
Israel  brought  their  gifts,  Joachim  also  brought  his ; 
but  the  high  priest  Issachar  stood  over  against  him 
and  opposed  him,  saying,  *  It  is  not  lawful  for  thee 
to  bring  thine  offering,  seeing  that  thou  hast  not 
begot  issue  in  Israel.'  And  Joachim  was  exceeding 
sorrowful,  and  went  down  to  his  house ;  and  he 
searched  through  all  the  registers  of  the  twelve 
\iiheB  to  discover  if  he  alone  had  been  childlesi 


250  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MADONNA. 

in  Israel.  And  he  found  that  all  the  righteoui 
iren,  and  the  patriarchs  who  had  lived  before 
him,  had  been  the  fathers  of  sons  and  daughters. 
And  he  called  to  mind  his  father  Abraham,  to 
whom  in  his  old  age  had  been  granted  a  son,  even 
Isaac. 

"  And  Joachim  was  more  and  more  sorrowful , 
and  he  would  not  be  seen  by  his  wife,  but  avoided 
her,  and  went  away  into  the  pastures  where  were 
the  shepherds  and  the  sheep-cotes.  And  he  built 
himself  a  hut,  and  fasted  forty  days  and  forty 
nights;  for  he  said  *  Until  the  Lord  God  look 
upon  me  mercifully,  prayer  shall  be  my  meat 
and  my  drink.' 

"  But  his  wife  Anna  remained  lonely  in  her 
house,  and  mourned  with  a  twofold  sorrow,  for  her 
widowhood  and  for  her  barrenness. 

"  Then  drew  near  the  last  day  of  the  feast  of  the 
Lord;  and  Judith  her  handmaid  said  to  Anna, 
*  How  long  wilt  thou  thus  afflict  thy  soul  ?  Behold 
the  feast  of  the  Lord  is  come,  and  it  is  not  lawful 
for  thee  thus  to  mourn.  Take  this  silken  fillet, 
which  was  bestowed  on  me  by  one  of  high  de- 
gree whom  I  formerly  served,  and  bind  it  round 
thy  head,  for  it  is  not  fit  that  I  who  am  thy  hand- 
maid should  wear  it,  but  it  is  fitting  for  thee,  whose 
brow  is  as  the  brow  of  a  crowned  queen.*  And 
Anna  replied,  *  Begone !  such  things  are  not  for 
me,  for  the  Lord  hath  humbled  me.  As  for  thii 
fillet,  some  wicked  person  hath  given  it  to  thee 
•nd  art  thou  come  to  make  me  a  partaker  in  thy 


LEGEND  OF  JoaCHIM  AND  ANNA.    251 

sin  ?  *  And  Judith  her  maid  answered,  '  What" 
ftvil  shall  I  wish  thee  since  thou  wilt  not  hearken  to 
my  voice  ?  for  worse  I  cannot  wish  thee  than  thai 
with  which  the  Lord  hath  afilicted  thee,  seeing  that 
he  hath  shut  up  thy  womb,  that  thou  shouldst  not 
be  a  mother  in  Israel.' 

"  And  Anna  hearing  these  words  was  sorely 
troubled.  And  she  laid  aside  her  mourning  gaiv 
ments,  and  she  adorned  her  head,  and  put  on  her  bri- 
dal attire ;  and  at  the  ninth  hour  she  went  forth  into 
her  garden,  and  sat  down  under  a  laurel  tree  and 
prayed  earnestly.  And  looking  up  to  heaven,  she 
saw  within  .the  laurel  bush  a  sparrow's  nest;  and 
mourning  within  herself  she  said, '  Alas  I  and  woe 
is  me !  who  hath  begotten  me  ?  who  hath  brought 
me  forth  ?  that  I  should  be  accursed  in  the  sight  of 
Israel,  and  scorned  and  shamed  before  my  people, 
and  cast  out  of  the  temple  of  the  Lord  I  Woe  is 
me !  to  what  shall  I  be  hkened  ?  I  cannot  be 
likened  to  the  fowls  of  heaven,  for  the  fowls  of 
heaven  are  fruitful  in  thy  sight,  O  Lord  I  Woe  is 
me !  to  what  shall  I  be  Hkened  ?  Not  to  the  un- 
reasoning beasts  of  the  earth,  for  they  are  fruitful 
in  thy  sight,  O  Lord  !  Woe  is  me  I  to  what  shall  I 
be  likened  ?  Not  to  these  waters,  for  they  are  fruit- 
ful in  thy  sight,  O  Lord  I  Woe  is  me !  to  what 
shall  I  be  likened  ?  Not  unto  the  earth,  for  the 
earth  bringeth  forth  her  fruit. in  due  season,  and 
praiseth  thee,  O  Lord  1 ' 

"  And  behold  an  angel  of  the  Lord  stood  by  hen 
uad  said,  *  Anna,  thy  prayer  is  heard,  thou  shal' 


15^  LE(JEN3S   OF   THE  MADONNA. 

bring  forth,  and  thy  child  shall  be  blessed  through- 
out the  whole  world/  And  Anna  said,  *  As  th« 
Lord  liveth,  whatever  I  shall  bring  forth,  be  it  a 
man-child  or  a  maid,  I  will  present  it  an  offering  to 
the  Lord.'  And  behold  another  angel  came  and 
said  to  her,  *  See,  thy  husband  Joachim  is  coming 
with  his  shepherds;*  for  an  angel  had  spoken  to 
him  also,  and  had  comforted  him  with  promises. 
And  Anna  went  forth  to  meet  her  husband,  and 
Joachim  came  fpom  the  pasture  with  his  herds,  and 
they  met  at  the  golden  gate ;  and  Anna  ran  and 
embraced  her  husband,  and  hung  upon  his  neck, 
Baying,  *  Now  know  I  that  the  Lord  hath  blessed 
me.  I  who  was  a  widow  am  no  longer  a  widow ;  I 
who  was  barren  shall  become  a  joyful  mother.' 

"  And  they  returned  home  together. 

"  And  when  her  time  was  come,  Anna  brought 
forth  a  daughter ;  and  she  said,  *  This  day  my  soul 
magnifieth  the  Lord.*  And  she  laid  herself  down 
in  her  bed ;  and  she  called  the  name  of  her  child 
Mary,  which  in  the  Hebrew  is  Miriam." 

With  the  scenes  of  this  beautiful  pastoral  begini 
the  life  of  the  Virgin. 

1.  We  have  first  Joachim  rejected  from  the  tem- 
ple. He  stands  on  the  steps  before  the  altar  hold- 
ing a  lamb ;  and  the  high  priest  opposite  to  him,  • 
with  arm  upraised,  appears  to  refuse  his  offering, 
Such  is  the  usual  motif;  but  the  incident  has  been 
variously  treated  —  in  the  earlier  and  ruder  ex. 
imples,  with  a  'ur'icrous  w^nt  V  dignity  ;  for  Jo* 


LEGEND   OF   JOACHIM    AXD   ANNA.  253 

chim  is  almost  tumbling  down  the  steps  of  the 
temple  to  avoid  the  box  on  the  ear  which  Issachar 
the  priest  is  in  the  act  of  bestowing  in  a  most  ener- 
getic fashion.  On  the  other  hand,  the  group  by 
Taddeo  Gaddi  (Florence,  Baroncelli  Chapel,  S. 
Croce),  though  so  early  in  date,  has  not  since  been 
excelled  either  in  the  grace  or  the  dramatic  signifi- 
cance of  the  treatment.  Jcachim  turns  away,  with 
his  lamb  in  his  arms,  repulsed,  but  gently,  by  the 
priest.  To  the  right  are  three  personages  who 
bring  offerings,  one  of  whom,  prostrate  on  his  knees, 
yet  looks  up  at  Joachim  with  a  sneering  expression 
—  a  fine  representation  of  the  pharisaical  piety  of 
one  of  the  elect,  rejoicing  in  the  humiliation  of  a 
brother.  On  the  other  side  are  three  persons  who 
appear  to  be  commenting  on  the  scene.  In  the 
more  elaborate  composition  by  Ghirlandajo  (Flor- 
ence, S.  Maria  Novella),  there  is  a  grand  view  into 
the  interior  of  the  temple,  with  arches  richly  sculp- 
tured. Joachim  is  thrust  forth  by  one  of  the  at- 
tendants, while  in  the  background  the  high  priest 
accepts  the  offering  of  a  more  favoured  votary.  On 
each  side  are  groups  looking  on,  who  express  the 
contempt  and  hatred  they  feel  for  one,  who,  not 
having  children,  presumes  to  approach  the  altar. 
All  these,  according  to  the  custom  of  Ghirlandajo, 
are  portraits  of  distinguished  persons.  The  first 
figure  on  the  right  represents  the  painter  Baldovi- 
netti ;  next  to  him,  with  his  hand  on  his  side,  Ghir- 
landajo himself;  the  third,  with  long  black  hair,  is 
Bastiano  Mainardi,  who  painted  the  Assumptio» 
17 


254  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MAD  DNWA. 

in  the  Baroncelli  Chapel,  in  the  Santa  Croce ;  and 
the  fourth,  turning  his  back,  is  David  Ghirlandajo. 
These  real  personages  are  so  managed,  that,  whilfe 
they  are  not  themselves  actors,  they  do  not  interfere 
with  the  main  action,  but  rather  embellish  and 
illustrate  it,  like  the  chorus  in  a  Greek  tragedy. 
Every  single  figure  in  this  fine  fresco  is  a  study  for 
manly  character,  dignified  attitude,  and  easy  grand 
irapery. 

In  the  same  scene  by  Albert  Durer,*  the  high 
priest,  standing  behind  a  table,  rejects  the  offering 
of  the  lamb,  and  his  attendant  pushes  away  the 
doves.  Joachim  makes  a  gesture  of  despair,  and 
several  persons  who  bring  offerings  look  at  him 
with  disdain  or  with  sympathy. 

The  same  scene  by  Luini  (Milan,  Brera)  is  con- 
ceived with  much  pathetic  as  well  as  dramatic 
effbct.  But  as  I  have  said  enough  to  render  the 
subject  easily  recognized,  we  proceed. 

2.  "Joachim  herding  his  sheep  on  the  moun- 
tain, and  surrounded  by  his  shepherds,  receives  the 
message  of  the  angel."  This  subject  may  so  nearly 
resemble  the  Annunciation  to  the  Shepherds  in  St 
Luke's  Gospel,  that  we  must  be  careful  to  distin- 
guish them,  as,  indeed,  the  best  of  the  old  painters 
have  done  with  great  taste  and  feeling. 

In  the  fresco  by  Taddeo  Gaddi  (in  the  BaroncelL 
Chapel),  Joachim  is  seated  on  a  rocky  mountain, 
Ht  the  base  of  which  his  sheep  are  feeding,  anc 
*  In  the  set  of  wood-cuts  of  the  Life  of  the  Yirgin. 


LE3END    OF   JOACHIM   AND   ANNA.  26ft 

•urns  round  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  the  angel.  In 
the  fresco  by  Giotto  in  the  Arena  at  Padua,  the 
treatment  is  nearly  the  same.*  Tn  the  series  by 
Luini,  a  stream  runs  down  the  centre  of  the  pic- 
ture ;  on  one  side  is  Joachim  listening  to  the  angel, 
on  the  other,  Anna  is  walking  in  her  garden.  This 
incident  is  omitted  by  Ghirlandajo.  In  Albert 
Durer*s  composition,  Joachim  is  seen  in  the  fore- 
ground kneeling,  and  looking  up  at  an  angel,  who 
holds  out  in  both  hands  a  sort  of  parchment  roll 
looking  like  a  diploma  with  seals  appended,  and 
which  we  may  suppose  to  contain  the  message  from 
on  high  (if  it  be  not  rather  the  emblem  of  the  sealed 
book,  so  often  introduced,  particularly  by  the  Ger- 
man masters).  A  companion  of  Joachim  also  looks 
up  with  amazement,  and  farther  in  the  distance  are 
sheep  and  shepherds. 

The  Annunciation  to  St.  Anna  may  be  easily 
mistaken  for  the  Annunciation  to  the  Virgin  Mary ; 
—  we  must  therefore  be  careful  to  discriminate,  by 
an  attention  to  the  accessories.  Didron  observes 
;hat  in  Western  art  the  annunciation  to  St  Anna 
usually  takes  place  in  a  chamber.  In  the  East  it 
takes  place  in  a  garden,  because  there  "  on  vit  peu 
dans  les  maisons  et  beaucoup  en  plein  air ;"  but, 
according  to  the  legend,  the  locality  ought  to  be  a 
garden,  and  under  a  laurel  tree,  which  is  not 
always  attended  to. 


*  The  subject  will  be  found  in  th«»  pet  *>£  wood-cuts  |  ablishet* 
l»5  the  Aiundel  Society. 


£56      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

3.  The  altercation  between  St.  Anna  and  hei 
maid  Judith  I  have  never  met  with  but  once,  in 
the  series  by  Luini,  where  the  disconsolate  figure 
and  expression  of  St.  Anna  are  given  with  infinite 
grace  and  sentiment.     (Milan,  Brera.) 

4.  "  The  meeting  of  Joachim  and  Anna  before 
the  golden  gate."  This  is  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant subjects.  It  has  been  treated  by  the  very 
early  artists  with  much  naivete^  and  in  the  later 
examples  with  infinite  beauty  and  sentiment ;  and, 
which  is  curious,  it  has  been  idealized  into  a  devo- 
tional subject,  and  treated  apart.  The  action  \i 
in  itself  extremely  simple.  The  husband  and  wife 
afiectionately  and  joyfully  embrace  each  other.  In 
the  background  is  seen  a  gate,  richly  ornamented. 
Groups  of  spectators  and  attendants  are  sometimes, 
not  always,  introduced. 

In  the  composition  of  Albert  Durer  nothing  car 
be  more  homely,  hearty,  and  conjugal.  A  burly 
fet  man,  who  looks  on  with  a  sort  of  wondering 
amusement  in  his  face,  appears  to  be  a  true  and 
animated  transcript  from  nature,  as  true  as  Ghir- 
landajo's  attendant  figures  —  but  how  different  < 
\?hat  a  contrast  between  the  Florentine  citizen  and 
the  German  burgher  I  In  the  simpler  composition 
by  Taddeo  Gaddi,  St.  Anna  is  attended  by  three 
women,  among  whom  the  maid  Judith  is  conspicu 
ous,  and  behind  Joachim  is  one  of  his  shepherds.* 

*  In  two  compartments  of  a  small  altar-piece  (which  probabl) 
lipiveented  in  th<)  centre  the  Nativity  of  the  Virgin),  I  found  oo 


LEGEND  OF  JOACHIM  AND  ANNA.    251 

The  Franciscans,  those  enthusiastic  defenders  of 
ihe  Immaculate  Conception,  were  the  authors  of  a 
fantastic  idea,  that  the  birth  of  the  Virgin  was  not 
only  immaculate,  but  altogether  miraculous,  and 
'what  she  owed  her  being  to  the  joyful  kiss  which 
Joachim  gave  his  wife  when  they  met  at  the  gate. 
Of  course  the  Church  gave  no  countenance  to  this 
strange  poetical  fiction,  but  it  certainly  modified 
some  of  the  representations ;  for  example,  there  is 
a  picture  by  Vittore  Carpaccio,  wherein  St.  Joa- 
chim and  Anna  tenderly  embrace.  On  one  side 
stands  St.  Louis  of  Toulouse  as  bishop ;  on  the 
other  St.  Ursula  with  her  standard,  whose  presence 
turns  the  incident  into  a  religious  mystery.  In  an- 
other picture,  painted  by  Ridolfo  Ghirlandajo,  we 
have  a  still  more  singular  and  altogether  mystical 
treatment  In  the  centre  St.  Joachim  and  St.  An- 
na embrace ;  behind  St.  Joachim  stands  St.  Joseph 
with  his  lily  wand  and  a  book ;  behind  St.  Anna, 
the  Virgin  Mary  (thus  represented  as  existing  be- 
fore she  was  born  *),  and  beyond  her  St.  Laurence ; 
in  the  corner  is  seen  the  head  of  the  votary,  a  Ser- 
vite  monk ;  above  all,  the  Padre  Eterno  holds  an 
open  book  with  the  Alpha  and  Omega.  This  sin- 
gular picture  was  dedicated  and  placed  over  the 
high  altar  of  the  Conception  in  the  church  of  the 
Servi,  who,  under  the  title  of  Serviti  di  Maria, 

toe  side  the  story  of  St.  JoachW,  on  the  other  the  stery  of  St 
Anna.  —  Collection  of  Lord  Northwich,    No.  513,  tA  lis  Cata 
fOgue. 
*  ProT.  viii  22,  28.    These  texts  are  applied  to  the  Btadanim 


B58  LEGENDS   OF   THE    MADONNA. 

were  dedicated  to  the  especial  service  of  the  Vii« 
gin  Mary.     (v.  Legends  of  the  Monastic  Orders.) 


THE  NATIVITY  OF   THE  BLESSED  VIRGIN, 

Bal.  La  Nascit^  della  B.  Yergine.     Fr.  La  Naissance  de  la  S 
Vierge.     Ger.  Die  Geburt  Maria. 

This  is,  of  course,  a  very  important  subject.  It 
is  sometimes  treated  apart  as  a  separate  scene  ;  and 
a  series  of  pictures  dedicated  to  the  honour  of  the 
Virgin,  and  comprising  only  a  few  of  the  most 
eventful  scenes  in  her  history,  generally  begins 
with  her  Nativity.  The  primitive  treatment  is 
Greek,  and,  though  varied  in  the  details  and  the 
Bentiment,  it  has  never  deviated  much  from  the 
original  motif. 

St.  Anna  reclines  on  a  couch  covered  with  dra- 
pery, and  a  pillow  under  her  head ;  two  hand- 
maids sustain  her;  a  third  fans  her,  or  presents 
refreshments ;  more  in  front  a  group  of  women  are 
busied  about  the  new-born  child.  It  has  been  the 
custom,  I  know  not  on  what  authority,  to  introduce 
neighbours  and  friends,  who  come  to  congratulate 
the  parents.  The  whole  scene  thus  treated  is  sure 
to  come  home  to  the  bosom  of  the  observer.  The 
most  important  event  in  the  life  of  i  woman,  hei 
most  common  and  yet  most  awful  experience,  is 
here  so  treated  as  to  be  at  once  ennobled  by  its  sig- 
olficance  and  endeared  by  its  thoroughly  domestic 
iharacter 


THE   BIRTH   OF   THE   VIRGIN.  25S 

I  will  give  some  examples.  1.  The  first  is  by  an 
anknown  master  of  the  Greco-Italian  school,  ana 
referred  by  d'Agincourt  to  the  thirteenth  century, 
but  it  is  evidently  later,  and  quite  in  the  style  of 
the  Gaddi. 

2.  There  is  both  dignity  and  simplicity  in  the 
fresco  by  Taddeo  Gaddi.  (Florence,  Baroncelli 
Chapel.)  St.  Anna  is  sitting  up  in  bed ;  an  at- 
tendant pours  water  over  her  hands.  In  front, 
two  women  are  affectionately  occupied  with  the 
child  a  lovely  infant  with  a  glory  round  its  head. 
Three  other  attendants  are  at  the  foot  of  the  bed. 

3.  We  have  next  in  date,  the  elegant  composi- 
tion by  Ghirlandajo.  As  Joachim  and  Anna  were 
"  exceedingly  rich,"  he  has  surrounded  them  with 
all  the  luxuries  of  life.  The  scene  is  a  chamber 
richly  decorated ;  a  frieze  of  angelic  boys  ornaments 
the  alcove ;  St.  Anna  lies  on  a  couch.  Vasari  says 
"certain  women  are  ministering  to  her 5"  but  in 
L^sinio's  engraving  they  are  not  to  be  found.  In 
front  a  female  attendant  pours  water  into  a  vase ; 
two  others  seated  hold  the  infant.  A  noble  lady, 
habited  in  the  elegant  Florentine  costume  of  the 
^fteenth  century,  enters  with  four  others  —  all  por- 
traits, and,  as  is  usual  with  Ghirlandajo,  looking  on 
without  taking  any  part  in  the  action.  The  lady 
ji  front  is  traditionally  said  to  be  Ginevra  Benci, 
telebrated  for  her  beauty. 

4.  The  composition  by  Albert  Durer  *  gives  'oa 
%n  exact  transcript  of  antique  German  life,  quite 

•  la  the  set  of  wood-cuts  of  tJie  "  Life  of  the  Virgin  Macy**' 


260  LEGENDS   OF   THE   MADONNA. 

wonderful  for  the  homely  truth  of  the  delinea* 
tion,  but  equally  without  the  simplicity  of  a  scrip* 
tural  or  the  dignity  of  an  historical  scene.  In  an 
old-fashioned  German  chamber  lies  St.  Anna  in 
an  old-fashioned  canopied  bedstead.  Two  women 
bring  her  a  soup  and  something  to  drink,  while 
the  midwife,  tired  with  her  exertions,  leans  h^r 
head  on  the  bedside  and  has  sunk  to  sleep.  A 
crowd  of  women  fill  up  the  foreground,  one  of 
whom  attends  to  the  new-born  child ;  others,  who 
appear  to  have  watched  through  the  night,  as 
we  may  suppose  from  the  nearly  extinguished 
candles,  are  intent  on  good  cheer;  they  congrat- 
ulate each  other;  they  eat,  drink,  and  repose 
themselves.  It  would  be  merely  a  scene  of  Ger- 
man commeragej  full  of  nature  and  reality,  if 
an  angel  hovering  above,  and  swinging  a  censer, 
did  not  remind  us  of  the  sacred  importance  of  the 
incident  represented. 

5.  In  the  strongest  possible  contrast  to  the 
homely  but  animated  conception  of  Albert  Durer, 
is  the  grand  fresco  by  Andrea  del  Sarto,  in  the 
church  of  the  Nunziata  at  Florence.  The  inci- 
dents are  nearly  the  same:  we  have  St  Anna 
reclining  in  her  bed  and  attended  by  her  women ; 
the  nurses  waiting  on  the  lovely  new-bom  child , 
the  visitors  who  enter  to  congratulate ;  but  all, 
down  to  the  handmaidens  who  bring  refreshments, 
are  noble  and  dignified,  and  draped  in  that  mag- 
nificent taste  which  distinguished  Andrea.  Angel i 
icatter  flowers  from  above  and,  which  Is  very  wi> 


THE   PRESENTATION   OF    THE   VIRGIN.      26 1 

roinmon,  Joachim  is  seen,  after  the  anxious  night 
reposing  on  a  couch.  Nothing  in  fresco  can  exceed 
the  harmony  and  brilliancy  of  the  colouring,  and 
the  softness  of  the  execution.  It  appeared  to  me  a 
masterpiece  as  a  picture.  Like  Ghirlandajo,  An- 
drea has  introduced  portraits ;  and  in  the  Florentine 
lady  who  stands  in  the  foreground  we  recognize  the 
features  of  his  worthless  wife  Lucrezia,  the  original 
model  of  so  many  of  his  female  figures  that  the  igno- 
ble beauty  of  her  face  has  become  quite  familiar. 

THE  PRESENTATION  OF  THE  VIRGIN. 

Ital.  La  Presentazione,  ore  nostra  Signora  piccioletta  sale  i  gradl 
del  Tempio.     Ger.  Joachim  und  Aivna  weihen  ihre  Tocht«r 
Maria  im  Tempel.    Die  Vorstellung  der  Jungfrau  im  Tempe 
Nov.  21. 

In  the  interval  between  the  birth  of  Mary  and 
her  consecration  in  the  temple,  there  is  no  inci- 
dent which  I  can  remember  as  being  important  or 
popular  as  a  subject  of  art. 

It  is  recorded  with  what  tenderness  her  mother 
Anna  watched  over  her,  "  how  she  made  of  her 
bedchamber  a  holy  place,  allowing  nothing  that 
was  common  or  unclean  to  enter  in ; "  and  called 
to  her  "  certain  daughters  of  Israel,  pure  and  gen- 
tle," whom  she  appointed  to  attend  on  her.  In 
Bome  of  the  eaAy  miniature  illustrations  of  the 
Offices  of  the  Virgin,  St.  Anna  thus  ministers  to 
ter  child ;  for  instance,  in  a  beautiful  Greek  MS. 
m  the  Vatican,  she  is  tenderly  putting  hei  into  a 


B62  LEGENDS   OF    THE    MADONNA. 

little  bed  or  cradle  and  covering  her  up.     (It  if 
engraved  in  d'Agincourt.) 

It  is  not  said  anywhere  that  St.  Anna  instructed 
her  daughter.  It  has  even  been  regarded  as  un- 
orthodox to  suppose  that  the  Virgin,  enriched  from 
her  birth,  and  before  her  birth,  with  all  the  gifts  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  required  instruction  from  any  one. 
Nevertheless,  the  subject  of  the  "  Education  of  the 
Virgin  **  has  been  often  represented  in  later  times. 
There  is  a  beautiful  example  by  Murillo ;  while 
Anna  teaches  her  child  to  read,  angels  hover  over 
them  with  wreaths  of  roses.  (Madrid  Gal.)  An- 
other by  Rubens,  in  which,  as  it  is  said,  he  repre- 
sented his  young  wife,  Helena  Forman.  (Mus^e, 
Antwerp.)  There  is  also  a  picture  in  which  St. 
Anna  ministers  to  her  daughter,  and  is  intent 
on  braiding  and  adorning  her  long  golden  hair, 
while  the  angels  look  on  with  devout  admiration. 
(Vienna,  Lichtenstein  Gal.)  In  all  these  exam- 
ples Mary  is  represented  as  a  girl  of  ten  or  twelve 
years  old.  Now,  as  the  legend  expressly  relates 
that  she  was  three  years  old  when  she  became  an 
inmate  of  the  temple,  such  representations  must  be 
considered  as  incorrect. 

The  narrative  thus  proceeds :  — 

"  And  when  the  child  was  three  years  old^  Joa- 
chim said,  *Let  us  invite  the  daughters  of  Israel, 
and  they  shall  take  each  a  taper  or  a  lamp, 
tnd  attend  on  her,  that  the  child  may  not  turn 
^ack  from  the  temple  of  the  Lord.'     And  being 


THE   PKESENTATION   OF    THE   VIRGIN.      265 

jome  to  the  temple,  they  placed  her  on  the  first 
itep,  and  she  ascended  alone  all  the  steps  to  the 
altar:  and  the  high  priest  received  her  there, 
kissed  her,  and  blessed  her,  saying,  <Mary,  the 
Lord  hath  magnified  thy  name  to  all  generations, 
and  in  thee  shall  be  made  known  the  redemption 
of  the  children  of  Israel.'  And  being  placed  be- 
fore the  altar,  she  danced  with  her  feet,  so  that  all 
the  house  of  Israel  rejoiced  with  her,  and  loved 
her.  Then  her  parents  returned  home,  blessing 
God  because  the  maiden  had  not  turned  back  from 
the  temple." 

Such  is  the  incident,  which,  in  artistic  represen- 
tation, is  sometimes  styled  the  "  Dedication,"  but 
more  generally  "The  Presentation  of  the 
Virgin." 

It  is  a  subject  of  great  importance,  not  only  as  a 
principal  incident  in  a  series  of  the  Life  of  the 
Virgin,  but  because  this  consecration  of  Mary  to 
the  service  of  the  temple  being  taken  in  a  general 
sense,  it  has  often  been  given  in  a  separate  form, 
particularly  for  the  nunneries.  Hence  it  has  hap- 
pened that  we  find  "  The  Presentation  of  the  Vir^ 
gin  "  among  some  of  the  most  precious  examples  of 
ancient  and  modern  art. 

The  motif  does  not  vary.  The  child  Mary, 
sometimes  in  a  blue,  but  oftener  in  a  white  vesture, 
with  long  golden  hair,  ascends  the  steps  whicli 
lead  to  the  porch  of  the  temple,  which  steps  are 
%lways  fifteen  in  number.     She  ought  to  be  an  in 


264  LEGENDS    OF    THE   MAi)ONNA. 

fant  of  three  years  of  age ;  but  in  many  picturet 
ghe  is  represented  older,  veiled,  and  with  a  taper 
in  her  hand  instead  of  a  lamp,  like  a  young  nun 
but  this  is  a  fault.  The  "  fifteen  steps  "  rest  on  a 
passage  in  Josephus,  who  says,  "  between  the  wall 
which  separated  the  men  from  the  women,  and  the 
great  porch  of  the  temple,  were  fifteen  steps  ;** 
and  these  are  the  steps  which  Mary  is  supposed  to 
ascend. 

1.  It  is  sometimes  treated  with  great  simplicity; 
for  instance,  in  the  bas-relief  by  Andrea  Orcagna, 
there  are  only  three  principal  figures  —  the  Virgin 
in  the  centre  (too  old,  however),  and  Joachim  and 
Anna  stand  on  each  side.  (Florence,  Or  San 
Michele.) 

2.  In  the  fresco  by  Taddeo  Gaddi  we  have  the 
same  artless  grace,  the  same  dramatic  grouping, 
and  the  same  faults  of  drawing  and  perspective  as 
in  the  other  compartments  of  the  series.  (Flor- 
ence, Baroncelli  Chapel.) 

3.  The  scene  is  represented  by  Ghirlandajo  with 
his  usual  luxury  of  accessories  and  accompani- 
ments. (Florence,  S.  Maria  Novella.)  The  lo- 
cality is  the  court  of  the  temple;  on  the  right  a 
magnificent  porch ;  the  Virgin,  a  young  girl  of 
about  nine  or  ten  years  old,  is  seen  ascending  the 
steps  with  a  book  in  her  hand  ;  the  priest  stretches 
out  his  arms  to  receive  her ;  behind  him  is  another 
priest ;  and  "  the  young  virgins  who  were  to  be  her 
3ompanions"  are  advancing  joyously  to  receive 
uer.     (Adducentur  Regi  Virgines  post  earn.     Pa 


THK   PRESENTATION   OF    THE    VIRGIN.      265 

xlv.)  At  the  foot  of  the  steps  are  St.  Anna  and 
St.  Joachim,  and  farther  off  a  group  of  women  and 
Bpectators,  who  watch  the  event  in  attitudes  of 
thanksgiving  and  joyful  sympathy.  Two  vener- 
ble,  grand-looking  Jews,  and  two  beautiful  boys 
fill  the  foreground ;  and  the  figure  of  the  pilgrim 
resting  on  the  steps  is  memorable  in  art  as  one  of 
the  earliest  examples  of  an  undraped  figure,  accu- 
rately and  gracefully  drawn.  The  whole  composi- 
tion is  full  of  life  and  character,  and  that  sort  of 
elegance  peculiar  to   Ghirlandajo. 

4.  In  the  composition  of  Albert  Durer  we  see 
the  entrance  of  the  temple  on  the  left,  and  the 
child  Mary  with  flowing  hair  ascending  the  steps ; 
behind  her  stand  her  parents  and  other  personages, 
and  in  front  are  venders  of  provisions,  doves,  &c., 
which  are  brought  as  offerings. 

5.  The  scene,  as  given  by  Carpaccio,  appears  to 
me  exceedingly  graceful.  The  perfectly  childish  fig- 
ure of  Mary  with  her  light  flowing  tresses,  the  grace 
with  which  she  kneels  on  the  steps,  and  the  disposi- 
tion of  the  attendant  figures,  are  all  beautifully  con- 
ceived. Conspicuous  in  front  is  a  page  holding  a 
unicorn,  the  ancient  emblem  of  chastity,  and  often 
introduced  significantly  into  pictures  of  the  Virgin. 
(Venice  Academy.) 

6.  But  the  most  celebrated  example  is  the  Pres- 
entation by  Titian,  in  the  academy  at  Venice,  orig^ 
Jnally  painted  for  the  church  oi'  the  brotherhood  of 
charity  (Scuola  della  Carita)^  and  still  to  be  seen 
khere  —  the  Carit^  being  now  the  academy  of  art 


2fiQ  LEGENDS   OF   THE   MADONNA. 

In  the  general  arrangement,  Titian  seems  to  have 
been  indebted  to  Carpaecio ;  but  all  that  is  simple 
and  poetical  in  the  latter  becomes  in  Titian's  ver- 
lion  sumptuous  and  dramatic.  Here  Mary  does 
not  kneel,  but,  holding  up  her  light-blue  drapery, 
ascends  the  steps  with  childish  grace  and  alacrity. 
The  number  of  portrait-heads  adds  to  the  value 
and  interest  of  the  picture.  Titian  himself  is  look- 
ing up,  and  near  him  stands  his  friend,  Andrea  de* 
Franceschi,  grand-chancellor  of  Venice,*  robed  as  a 
Cavaliero  di  San  Marco.  In  the  fine  bearded  head 
of  the  priest,  who  stands  behind  the  high-priest,  we 
may  recognize,  I  think,  the  likeness  of  Cardinal 
Bembo.  In  the  foreground,  instead  of  the  poetical 
Bymbol  of  the  unicorn,  we  have  an  old  woman  sell- 
ing eggs  and  fowls,  as  in  Albert  Durer's  print, 
which  must  have  been  well  known  to  Titian.  Al- 
bert Durer  published  his  Life  of  the  Virgin  in 
1520,  and  Titian  painted  his  picture  about  1550. 
(Venice  Academy.) 

From  the  life  of  the  Virgin  in  the  temple,  we 
have  several  beautiful  pictures.  As  she  was  to  be 
placed  before  women  as  an  example  of  every  vir- 
tue, so  she  was  skilled  in  all  feminine  accomplish- 
ments ;  she  was  as  studious,  as  learned,  as  wise,  ai 
•he  was  industrious,  chaste,  and  temperate. 

*  "  Amorevolissimo  del  Pittor&,^''  says  Ridolfl.  It  Is  the  samt 
yerson  whom  Titian  introduced,  with  himself,  in  the  fine  picture 
jb  Windsor;  there,  by  a  truly  unpardonable  mistake,  cal1e4 
X  Titian  and  Aretino" 


THE    VIRGIN   IN   THE   TEMPLE.  26? 

She  Is  seen  surrounded  by  her  young  compan- 
ions,  tlie  maidens  who  were  brought  up  in  the  tem- 
ple with  her,  in  a  picture  by  Agnolo  Gaddi.  (Flor- 
ence, Carmine.)  She  is  instructing  her  compan^ 
ions,  in  a  charming  picture  by  Luini :  here  she 
appears  as  a  girl  of  seven  or  eight  years  old,  seated 
on  a  sort  of  throne,  dressed  in  a  simple  light-blue 
tunic,  with  long  golden  hair;  while  the  children 
around  her  look  up  and  listen  with  devout  faces. 
(Milan,  Brera.) 

Some  other  scenes  of  her  early  life,  which,  in  the 
ProtevangeHon,  are  placed  after  her  marriage  with 
Joseph,  in  pictures  usually  precede  it.  Thus,  she 
is  chosen  by  lot  to  spin  the  fine  purple  for  the  tem- 
ple, to  weave  and  embroider  it.  Didron  mentions 
a  fine  antique  tapestry  at  Kheims,  in  which  Mary 
is  seated  at  her  embroidery,  while  two  unicorns 
crouching  on  each  side  look  up  in  her  face. 

I  remember  a  fine  drawing,  in  which  the  Virgin 
is  seated  at  a  large  tapestry  frame.  Behind  her 
are  two  maidens,  one  of  whom  is  reading ;  the 
*ther,  holding  a  distaff,  lays  her  hand  on  the  shoul- 
der of  the  Virgin,  as  if  about  to  speak.  The  scene 
represents  the  interior  of  the  temple  with  rich  ar- 
chitecture.    (Vienna,  Col.  of  Archduke  Charles.) 

In  a  small  but  very  pretty  picture  by  Guido,  the 
Virgin,  as  a  young  girl,  sits  embroidering  a  yellous 
robe.  (Lord  EUesmere's  Gal.)  She  is  attended 
ly  four  angels,  one  of  whom  draws  aside  a  curtain 


E68  LEGENDS   OF    THE  MADONNA. 

It  IS  also  related,  that  among  the  companions  of 
Mary  in  the  temple  was  Anna  the  prophetess  ;  and 
that  this  aged  and  holy  woman,  knowing  by  inspi- 
ration of  the  Holy  Spirit  the  peculiar  grace  vouch- 
safed to  Mary,  and  her  high  destiny,  beheld  her 
with  equal  love  and  veneration  ;  and,  notwithstand- 
ing the  disparity  of  age,  they  become  true  and  dear 
friends. 

In  an  old  illumination,  the  Virgin  is  seated  spin- 
ning, with  an  angel  by  her  side.  (Office  of  the 
Virgin,  1408.     Oxford,  Bodleian.) 

It  is  recorded  that  the  angels  daily  ministered  to 
her,  and  fed  her  with  celestial  food.  Hence  in 
some  early  specimens  of  art  an  angel  brings  her  a 
loaf  of  bread  and  a  pitcher  of  water,  —  the  bread 
of  life  and  the  water  of  life  from  Paradise.  In  this 
subject,  as  we  find  it  carved  on  the  stalls  of  the 
cathedral  of  Amiens,  Mary  holds  a  book,  and  sev- 
eral books  are  ranged  on  a  shelf  in  the  back- 
ground :  there  is,  besides,  a  clock,  such  as  was  in 
use  in  the  fifteenth  century,  to  indicate  the  studi- 
ous and  regular  life  led  by  Mary  in  the  temple. 

St  Evode,  patriarch  of  Antioch,  and  St.  Germa- 
nus,  assert  as  an  indubitable  tradition  of  the  Greek 
Church,  that  Mary  had  the  privilege  —  never 
granted  to  one  of  her  sex  before  or  since  —  of 
entering  the  Holy  of  Holies,  and  praying  before 
ihe  ark  of  the  covenant.  Hence,  in  some  of  the 
•eenes  from  her  early  life,  the  ark  is  placed  in  th« 


THE   MAHRIAGE   OF    THE   VIRGIN.  269 

background.  We  must  also  bear  in  mind  that  the 
Ark  was  one  of  the  received  types  of  her  who  bore 
the  Logos  within  her  bosom. 

In  her  fourteenth  year,  Mary  was  informed  by 
the  high  priest  that  it  was  proper  that  she  should 
be  married;  but  she  modestly  replied  that  her 
parents  had  dedicated  her  to  the  service  of  the 
Lord,  and  that,  therefore,  she  could  not  comply. 
But  the  high-priest,  who  had  received  a  revelation 
from  an  angel  concerning  the  destiny  of  Mary, 
informed  her  thereof,  and  she  with  all  humility 
submitted  herself  to  the  divine  will.  This  scene 
between  Mary  and  the  high-priest  has  been  painted, 
by  Luini,  and  it  is  the  only  example  with  which 
I  am  acquainted. 

Pictures  of  the  Virgin  in  her  girlhood,  reading 
intently  the  Book  of  Wisdom,  while  angels  watch 
over  her,  are  often  of  great  beauty. 


THE  MARRIAGE  OF  THE  VIRGIN. 

iUd,  n  SposaMo.    Fr.   Le  Manage  de  la  Yierge.     Ger.  Dte 
Trauung  Maria.    Jan.  23. 

This,  as  an  artistic  subject,  is  of  great  conse- 
quence, from  the  beauty  and  celebrity  of  some  of 
the  representations,  which,  however,  are  unintelli- 
gible without  the  accompanying  legends.  And  it 
is  worth  remarking,  that  while  the  incident  is 
tvoided  in  early  Greek  art,  it  be'^ame  very  popular 
18 


^70  LEGENDS   OF   THE   MADONNA. 

with  the  Italian  and  German  painters  fiom  tht 
fourteenth  century. 

In  the  East,  the  prevalence  of  the  monastio 
spirit,  from  the  fourth  century,  had  brought  mar- 
riage into  disrepute ;  by  many  of  the  ascetic  wri- 
ters of  the  West  it  was  considered  almost  in  the 
light  of  a  necessary  evil.  This  idea,  that  the  pri- 
mal and  most  sacred  ordinance  of  God  and  nature 
was  incompatible  with  the  sanctity  and  purity  ac- 
ceptable to  God,  was  the  origin  of  the  singular 
legends  of  the  Marriage  of  the  Virgin.  One  sees 
very  clearly  that,  if  possible,  it  would  have  been 
denied  that  Mary  had  ever  been  married  at  all ; 
'but,  as  the  testimony  of  the  Gospel  was  too  direct 
and  absolute  to  be  set  aside,  it  became  necessarv, 
in  the  narrative,  to  give  to  this  distasteful  marriage 
the  most  recondite  motives,  and  in  art,  to  surround 
it  with  the  most  poetical  and  even  miraculous  ac- 
cessories. 

But  before  we  enter  on  the  treatment  of  the  sub- 
ject, it  is  necessary  to  say  a  few  words  on  the  char- 
acter of  Joseph,  wonderfully  selected  to  be  the  hus- 
band and  guardian  of  the  consecrated  mother  of 
Christ,  and  foster-father  of  the  Redeemer ;  and  so 
often  introduced  into  all  the  pictures  which  refer  to 
the  childhood  of  our  Lord. 

From  the  Gospels  we  learn  nothing  of  him  but 
that  he  was  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  and  the  lineage 
of  David ;  that  he  was  a  just  man ;  that  he  followed 
the  trade  of  a  carpenter,  and  dwelt  in  the  b'ttle  city 
of  Nazareth.     We  infer  from  his  conduct  towardi 


TUE    MARRIAGE   OF    THE   VIRGIN.  271 

Mary,  that  he  was  a  mild,  and  tender,  and  pure- 
hearted,  as  well  as  an  upright  man.  Of  his  age 
and  personal  appearance  nothing  is  said.  These 
are  the  points  on  which  the  Church'  has  not 
decided,  and  on  which  artists,  left  to  their  own 
devices,  and  led  by  various  opinions,  have  differed 
considerably. 

The  very  early  painters  deemed  it  right  to  rep- 
resent Joseph  as  very  old,  almost  decrepit  with  age, 
and  supported  by  a  crutch.  According  to  some  of 
the  monkish  authorities,  he  was  a  widower,  and 
eighty-four  years  old  when  he  was  espoused  to 
Mary.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  argued,  that 
such  a  marriage  would  have  been  quite  contrary 
to  the  custom  of  the  Jews;  and  that  to  defend 
Mary,  and  to  provide  for  her  celestial  Offspring, 
it  was  necessary  that  her  husband  should  be  a  man 
of  mature  age,  but  still  strong  and  robust,  and  able 
to  work  at  his  trade ;  and  thus,  with  more  proprie- 
ty and  better  taste,  the  later  painters  have  repre- 
sented him.  In  the  best  Italian  and  Spanish  pic- 
tures of  the  Holy  Family,  he  is  a  man  of  about 
forty  or  fifty,  with  a  mild,  benevolent  countenance, 
brown  hair,  and  a  short,  curled  beard :  the  crutch, 
or  stick,  however,  is  seldom  omitted ;  it  became  a 
conventional  attribute. 

In  the  German  pictures,  Joseph  is  not  only  old, 
but  appears  almost  in  a  state  of  dotage,  like  a  lean, 
wrinkled  mendicant,  with  a  bald  head,  a  white 
beard,  a  feeble  frame,  and  a  sleepy  or  stupid 
countenance.     Then,  again,  the  later  Italian  paint> 


!72  LEGENDS   OF    THE   MADONNA. 

ers  have  erred  as  mucli  on  the  other  side;  fcT  1 
have  seen  pictures  in  which  St.  Joseph  is  not  onljj? 
a  young  man  not  more  than  thirty,  but  bears  a 
strong  resemblance  to  the  received  heads  of  our 
Saviour. 

It  is  in  the  sixteenth  century  that  we  first  find 
Joseph  advanced  to  the  dignity  of  a  saint  in  hia 
own  right ;  and  in  the  seventeenth  he  became  very 
popular,  especially  in  Spain,  where  St.  Theresa 
had  chosen  him  for  her  patron  saint,  and  had 
placed  her  powerful  order  of  the  reformed  Car- 
melites under  his  protection.  Hence  the  number 
of  pictures  of  that  time,  which  represent  Joseph,  as 
the  foster-father  of  Christ,  carrying  the  Infant  on 
his  arm  and  caressing  him,  while  in  the  other  hand 
he  bears  a  lily,  to  express  the  sanctity  and  purity 
of  his  relations  with  the  Virgin. 

The  legend  of  "the  Marriage  of  Joseph  and 
Mary  "  is  thus  given  in  the  Protevangelion  and  the 
History  of  Joseph  the  Carpenter:  — 

"  When  Mary  was  fourteen  years  old,  the  priest 
Zacharias  (or  Abiathar,  as  he  is  elsewhere  called) 
inquired  of  the  Lord  concerning  her,  what  was 
right  to  be  done ;  and  an  angel  came  to  him  and 
laid,  *  Go  forth,  and  call  together  all  the  widowers 
Among  the  people,  and  let  each  bring  his  rod  (ot 
wand)  in  his  hand,  and  he  to  whom  the  Lord  shall 
ihow  a  sign,  let  him  be  the  husband  of  Mary. 
Knd  Zacharias  did  as  the  angel  commanded,  and 


tBL£  MARRIAGE   OF   THE  VIRGIN.  27S 

made  proclamation  accordingly.  And  Joseph  the 
carpenter,  a  righteous  man,  throwing  down  his  axe, 
and  taking  his  staff  in  his  hand,  ran  out  with  the 
rest.  When  he  appeared  before  the  priest,  and 
presented  his  rod,  lo !  a  dove  issued  out  of  it  —  a 
dove  dazzling  white  as  the  snow,  —  and  zifter  set- 
tling on  his  head,  flew  towards  heaven.  Then  the 
high  priest  said  to  him,  *  Thou  art  the  person  chosen 
bo  take  the  Virgin  of  the  Lord,  and  to  keep  her  for 
him.'  And  Joseph  was  at  first  afraid,  and  drew 
back,  but  afterwards  he  took  her  home  to  his  house, 
and  said  to  her,  *  Behold,  I  have  taken  thee  from 
the  temple  of  the  Lord,  and  now  T  will  leave  thee 
m  my  house,  for  I  must  go  and  follow  my  trade  of 
building.  I  will  return  to  thee,  and  meanwhile  the 
Lord  be  with  thee  and  watch  over  thee.*  So  Joseph 
left  her,  and  Mary  remained  in  her  house." 

There  Is  nothing  said  of  any  marriage  ceremony , 
some  have  even  affirmed  that  Mary  was  only  be- 
trothed to  Joseph,  but  for  conclusive  reasons  it  re- 
mains an  article  of  faith  that  she  was  married  to 
him. 

I  must  mention  here  an  old  tradition  cited  by  St. 
Jerome,  and  which  has  been  used  as  a  text  by  the 
painters.  The  various  suitors  who  aspired  to  the 
honour  of  marrying  the  consecrated  "  Virgin  of  the 
Loitl,"  among  whom  was  the  son  of  the  high-priest, 
deposited  their  wands  in  the  temple  over  night,* 

*  The  suitors  kneeling  with  their  ^ands  before  the  altar  in  tht 
ISemple,  is  one  of  the  series  by  Giotto  in  ke  Arena  at  Padua. 


£74  LEGENDS    OF    THE   MADONNA. 

and  noxt  morning  the  rod  of  Joseph  was  found, 
like  the  rod  of  Aaron,  to  have  budded  forth  into 
leaves  and  flowers.  The  other  suitors  thereupon 
broke  their  wands  in  rage  and  despair ;  and  one 
among  them,  a  youth  of  noble  lineage,  whose  nam© 
was  Agabus,  fled  to  Mount  Carmel,  and  became 
an  anchorite,  that  is  to  say,  a  Carmelite  friar. 

According  to  the  Abbe  Orsini,  who  gives  a  long 
description  of  the  espousals  of  Mary  and  Joseph, 
they  returned  after  the  marriage  ceremony  to  Naz- 
areth, and  dwelt  in  the  house  of  St.  Anna. 

Now,  with  regard  to  the  representations,  we  find 
that  many  of  the  early  painters,  and  particularly  the 
Italians,  have  carefully  attended  to  the  fact,  that, 
among  the  Jews,  marriage  was  a  civil  contract,  not 
a  religious  rite  The  ceremony  takes  place  in  the 
open  air,  in  a  garden,  or  in  a  landscape,  or  in  front 
of  the  temple.  Mary,  as  a  meek  and  beautiful 
maiden  of  about  fifteen,  attended  by  a  train  of 
yirgins,  stands  on  the  right ;  Joseph,  behind  whom 
are  seen  the  disappointed  suitors,  is  on  the  left. 
The  priest  joins  their  hands,  or  Joseph  is  in  the  act 
of  placing  the  ring  on  the  finger  of  the  bride.  This 
18  the  traditional  arrangement  from  Giotto  down  to 
RaphaeL  In  the  series  by  Giotto,  in  the  Arena  a4 
Padua,  we  have  three  scenes  from  the  marriage  le- 
gend. 1.  St.  Joseph  and  the  other  suitors  present 
their  wands  to  the  high-priest.  2.  They  kneel  be- 
fore the  altar,  on  which  their  wands  are  deposited, 
iraiting  for  the  promised  miracle.     8.  The  marriagt 


THE   MARRIAGE    OF    THE    VIRGIN.  271 

ijeremony.  It  takes  place  before  an  altar,  in  the 
interior  of  the  temple.  The  Virgin,  a  most  grace- 
ful figure,  but  rather  too  old,  stands  attended  by  her 
maidens ;  St.  Joseph  holds  his  wand  with  the  flowei 
and  the  holy  Dove  resting  on  it :  one  of  the  disap* 
pointed  suitors  is  about  to  strike  him;  another 
breaks  his  wand  against  his  knee.  Taddeo  Gaddi, 
Angelico,  Ghirlandajo,  Perugino,  all  followed  thia 
traditional  conception  of  the  subject,  except  that 
they  omit  the  altar,  and  place  the  locality  in  the 
open  air,  or  under  a  portico.  Among  the  relir^s 
venerated  in  the  Cathedral  of  Perugia,  is  the  nup- 
tial ring  of  the  blessed  Virgin ;  and  for  the  altar 
of  the  sacrament  there,  Perugino  painted  the  ap- 
propriate subject  of  the  Marriage  of  the  Virgin.* 
Here  the  ceremony  takes  place  under  the  portico 
of  the  temple,  and  Joseph  of  course  puts  the  ring 
on  her  finger.  It  is  a  beautiful  composition,  which 
has  been  imitated  more  or  less  by  the  painters  of 
the  Perugino  school,  and  often  repeated  in  the  gen- 
eral arrangement. 

But  in  this  subject,  Raphael,  while  yet  a  youth, 
excelled  his  master  and  all  who  had  gone  before 
him.  Every  one  knows  the  famous  "  Sposalizio 
of  the  Brera."  f  It  was  painted  by  Raphael  in  his 
twenty-first  year,  for  the  church  of  S.  Francesco, 
in  Cittk  di  Castello ;  and  though  he  has  closely  fol- 
lowed the  conception  of  his  master,  it  is  modified 

*  It  was  carried  off  from  the  church  by  the  French,  aolcl  fai 
Irance,  and  is  now  to  be  seen  in  the  Mus6e  at  Caen. 
i  At  Milan.    The  fine  engraving  by  Longhi  is  ^ell  known 


^76  LEGEN1>S    OF    THE    MADONNA. 

by  that  ethereal  grace  which  even  then  distinguished 
him.  Here  Mary  and  Joseph  stand  in  front  of  the 
temple,  the  high-priest  joins  their  hands,  and  Jo« 
Beph  places  the  ring  on  the  finger  of  the  bride 
he  is  a  man  of  about  thirty,  and  holds  his  wand, 
which  has  blossomed  into  a  hly,  but  there  is  no  Dove 
upon  it.  Behind  Mary  is  a  group  of  the  virgins  ol 
the  temple;  behind  Joseph  the  group  of  disap 
pointed  suitors ;  one  of  whom,  in  the  act  of  break- 
ing his  wand  against  his  knee,  a  singularly  graceful 
figure,  seen  more  in  front  and  richly  dressed,  is 
perhaps  the  despairing  youth  mentioned  in  the 
legend.*  With  something  of  the  formality  of  the 
elder  schools,  the  figures  are  noble  and  dignified ; 
the  countenances  of  the  principal  personages  have 
a  characteristic  refinement  and  beauty,  and  a  soft, 
tender,  enthusiastic  melancholy,  which  lends  a  pe- 
culiar and  appropriate  charm  to  the  subject.  In 
fact,  the  whole  scene  is  here  ideahzed ;  it  is  like  a 
lyric  poem.     (Kugler's  Handbook,  2d  edit.) 

In  Ghirlandajo's  composition  (Florence,  S.  Maria 
Novella),  Joseph  is  an  old  man  with  a  bald  head ; 
the  architecture  is  splendid ;  the  accessory  figures, 
as  is  usual  with  Ghirlandajo,  are  numerous  and  full 
of  grace.  In  the  background  are  musicians  play- 
ing on  the  pipe  and  tabor,  an  incident  which  I  do 
not  recollect  to  have  seen  in  other  pictures. 

The  Sposalizio  by  Girolamo  da  Cotignola  (Bo- 
logna Gal.),  painted  for  the  church  of  St.  Joseph,  ii 

*  In  the  series  by  Giotto  at  Padua,  we  hare  the  youth  br»%)i 
ttg  bit  wand  across  his  knee. 


THE   MARRIAGE   OF   THE   VIRGIN.  27? 

Leated  quite  in  a  mystical  style.  Mary  and  Joseph 
itand  before  an  altar,  on  the  steps  of  which  are 
leated,  on  one  side  a  prophet,  on  the  other  a  sibyl. 

By  the  German  painters  the  scene  is  represented 
with  a  characteristic  homely  neglect  of  all  historic 
propriety.  The  temple  is  a  Gothic  church;  the 
altar  has  a  Gothic  altar-piece ;  Joseph  looks  like  an 
old  burgher  arrayed  in  furs  and  an  embroidered 
gown ;  and  the  Virgin  is  richly  dressed  in  the  cos- 
tume of  the  fifteenth  century.  The  suitors  are 
often  knights  and  cavaliers  with  spurs  and  tight 
hose. 

It  is  not  said  anywhere  that  St.  Anna  and  St. 
Joachim  were  present  at  the  marriage  of  their 
daughter ;  hence  they  are  supposed  to  have  been 
dead  before  it  took  place.  This  has  not  prevented 
some  of  the  old  German  artists  from  introducing 
them,  because,  according  to  their  ideas  of  domestic 
propriety,  they  ougJit  to  have  been  present. 

1  observe  that  the  later  painters  who  treated  th^ 
lubject,  Rubens  and  Poussin  for  instance,  omit  the 
disappointed  suitors. 

After  the  marriage,  or  betrothal,  Joseph  con 
iucts  his  wife  to  his  house.  The  group  of  the  re- 
turning procession  has  been  beautifully  treated  in 
Giotto's  series  at  Padua ;  *  still  more  beautifully  bi 

•  Oappella  dell'  Arena,  engraved  for  the  Arundel  Society. 


2>4  LrGE::TDS   of   7HE   ^ADOlsVA. 

LuUi  in  the  fragment  of  fresco  now  in  the  Brera  at 
Miljai.  Here  Joseph  and  Mary  walk  together  hand 
in  Land.  He  looks  at  her,  just  touching  her  fingers 
with  an  air  of  tender  veneration ;  she  looks  down, 
Bereneiy  modest  Thus  they  return  together  to 
their  humble  home  ;  and  with  this  scene  closes  tli6 
firirt;  part  ot  ihe  lifb  of  the  Virgin  Maiy. 


mSTORICAL    SUBJECTS. 


PART  n. 

THE  LIFE  OF  THE  VIRGIN  MARY  FROM 
THE  ANNUNCIATION  TO  THE  RE- 
TURN  FROM  EGYPT. 

1.  THE  ANNUNCIATION.  2.  THE  SALUTATION 
OP  ELIZABETH.  B.  THE  JOURNEY  TO  BETHLE* 
HEM.  4.  THE  NATIVITY.  6.  THE  ADORATION 
OP  THE  SHEPHERDS.  6.  THE  ADORATION  OP 
THE  MAGL  7.  THE  PRESENTATION  IN  THE 
TEMPLE.  8.  THE  FLIGHT  INTO  EGYPT.  9.  THE 
RIPOSO.     10.  THE  RETURN  FROM  EGYPT. 

THE  ANNUNCIATION. 

1M'  L'  Annxmciazione.  La  B.  Ver^e  Annunziata.  FV.  L^An* 
nonciation.  La  Salutation  Ang^lique.  Ger.  Die  YerkUndi 
gang.    Der  Englische  Gniss.    March  25. 

The  second  part  of  the  life  of  the  Virgin  Maiy 
begins  with  the  Annunciation  and  ends  with  the 
Crucifixion,  comprising  all  those  scriptural  inci- 
dents which  connect  her  history  with  that  of  her 
^Yine  Son. 

But  to  the  scenes  narrated  in  the  Gospels  the 
:^ainters  did  not  confine   themselves.     Not  only 


f80  LEGENDS   OF   THE   MADONNA. 

were  the  simple  scripture  histories  coloured 
throughout  by  the  predominant  and  enthusiastic 
veneration  paid  to  the  Virgin  —  till  the  life  of 
Christ  was  absolutely  merged  in  that  of  Hia 
mother,  and  its  various  incidents  became  "the 
Boven  joys  and  the  seven  sorrows  of  Mary,"  —  but 
we  find  the  artistic  representations  of  her  life  curi- 
ously embroidered  and  variegated  by  the  introduc- 
tion of  traditional  and  apocryphal  circumstances,  in 
most  cases  sanctioned  by  the  Church  authorities  of 
the  time.  However  doubtful  or  repulsive  some  of 
these  scenes  and  incidents,  we  cannot  call  them 
absolutely  unmeaning  or  absurd ;  on  the  contrary, 
what  was  supposed  grew  up  very  naturally,  in  the 
vivid  and  excited  imaginations  of  the  people,  out 
of  what  was  recorded  ;  nor  did  they  distinguish  ac- 
curately between  what  they  were  allowed  and  what 
they  were  commanded  to  believe.  Neither  can  it 
be  denied  that  the  traditional  incidents  —  those  at 
least  which  we  find  artistically  treated  —  are  often 
singularly  beautiful,  poetical,  and  instructive.  In 
the  hands  of  the  great  religious  artists,  who  worked 
in  their  vocation  with  faith  and  simplicity,  objects 
and  scenes  the  most  familiar  and  commonplace 
became  sanctified  and  glorified  by  association  with 
what  we  deem  most  holy  and  most  venerable.  In 
the  hands  of  the  later  painters  the  result  was  just 
the  reverse  —  what  was  most  spiritual,  most  hal- 
lowed, most  elevated,  became  secularized,  material* 
Ized,  and  shockingly  degraded. 
No  subject  has  been  more  profoundly  felt  and 


THE   ANNUNCIATION.  281 

more  beautifully  handled  by  the  old  painters,  no* 
more  vilely  mishandled  by  the  moderns,  than  thft 
Annunciation,  of  all  the  scenes  in  the  life  of 
Mary  the  most  important  and  the  most  commonly 
met  with.  Considered  merely  as  an  artistic  sub- 
ject, it  is  surely  eminently  beautiful :  it  places  he* 
fore  us  the  two  most  graceful  forms  which  the  hand 
of  man  was  ever  called  on  to  delineate ;  —  the 
winged  spirit  fresh  from  paradise ;  the  woman  not 
less  pure,  and  even  more  highly  blessed — the 
chosen  vessel  of  redemption,  and  the  personifica- 
tion of  all  female  loveliness,  all  female  excellence, 
all  wisdom,  and  all  purity. 

We  find  the  Annunciation,  like  many  other 
scriptural  incidents,  treated  in  two  ways  —  as  a 
mystery,  and  as  an  event.  Taken  in  the  former 
sense,  it  became  the  expressive  symbol  of  a  mo- 
mentous article  of  faith.  The  Incarnation  of  the 
Deity.  Taken  in  the  latter  sense,  it  represented 
the  announcement  of  salvation  to  mankind,  through 
the  direct  interposition  of  miraculous  power.  In 
one  sense  or  the  other,  it  enters  into  every  scheme 
of  ecclesiastical  decoration ;  but  chiefly  it  is  set  be- 
fore us  as  a  great  and  awful  mystery,  of  which  the 
fcwo  figures  of  Gabriel,  the  angel-messenger,  and 
Mary  the  "  highly-favoured,"  placed  in  relation  to 
each  other,  became  the  universally  accepted  sym 
W)l,  rather  than  the  representation. 


E82  LEGENDS    OF    THE   MADONNA. 


THE  ANNUNCIATION  AS  A  MYSTERY, 

Considering  the  importance  given  to  the  Annan 
ciation  in  its  mystical  sense,  it  is  strange  that  w€ 
do  not  find  it  among  the  very  ancient  symbolicai 
subjects  adopted  in  the  first  ages  of  Christian  art 
It  does  not  appear  on  the  sarcophagi,  nor  in  the 
oarly  Greek  carvings  and  diptychs,  nor  in  the  early 
mosaics  —  except  once,  and  then  as  a  part  of  the 
history  of  Christ,  not  as  a  symbol ;  nor  can  we 
trace  the  mystical  treatment  of  this  subject  higher 
than  the  eleventh  century,  when  it  first  appears  in 
the  Gothic  sculpture  and  stained  glass.  In  the 
thirteenth,  and  thenceforward,  the  Annunciation 
appears  before  us,  as  the  expression  in  form  of  a 
theological  dogma,  everywhere  conspicuous.  It 
became  a  primal  element  in  every  combination  of 
sacred  representations ;  the  corner-stone,  as  it  were, 
of  every  architectural  system  of  religious  decora- 
tion. It  formed  a  part  of  every  altar-piece,  either 
in  sculpture  or  painting.  Sometimes  the  Virgin 
stands  on  one  side  of  the  altar,  the  angel  on  the 
other,  carved  in  marble  or  alabaster,  or  of  wood 
richly  painted  and  gilt ;  or  even,  as  I  have  seen  in 
lome  instances,  of  solid  silver.  Not  seldom,  we  find 
the  two  figures  placed  in  niches  against  the  pillars, 
or  on  pedestals  at  the  entrance  of  the  choir.  It 
was  not  necessary,  when  thus  symbolically  treatedi 
to  j)lace  the  two  figures  m  proximity  to  signifjr 


THE   ANNUNCIATION   AS  A   MYSTERY.      28* 

flieir  relation  to  each  other ;  they  are  often  divideci 
by  the  whole  breadth  of  the  chancel. 

Whatever  the  subject  of  the  altar-piece  — 
whether  the  Nativity,  or  the  Enthroned  Madon- 
na, or  the  Coronation,  or  the  Crucifixion,  or  the 
Last  Supper,  —  the  Annunciation  almost  invaria- 
bly formed  part  of  the  decoration,  inserted  either 
into  the  spandrels  of  the 'arches  above,  or  in  the 
predella  below ;  or,  which  is  very  common,  painted 
or  carved  on  the  doors  of  a  tabernacle  or  tripty- 
chon. 

If  the  figures  are  full-length,  a  certain  symmetry 
being  required,  they  are  either  both  standing, or  both 
kneeling ;  it  is  only  in  later  times  that  the  Virgin 
sits,  and  the  angel  kneels.  When  disposed  in  cir- 
cles or  semicircles,  they  are  often  merely  busts,  or 
half-length  figures,  separated  perhaps  by  a  frame- 
work of  tracery,  or  set  on  each  side  of  the  princi- 
pal subject,  whatever  that  may  be.  Hence  it  is 
that  we  so  often  find  in  galleries  and  collections, 
pictures  of  the  Annunciation  in  two  separate  parts, 
the  angel  in  one  frame,  the  Virgin  in  another ;  and 
perhaps  the  two  pictures,  thus  disunited,  may  have 
found  their  way  into  different  countries  and  differ- 
ent collections,  —  the  Virgin  being  in  Italy  and  the 
angel  in  England. 

Sometimes  the  Annunciation  —  still  as  a  mysti- 
cal subject  —  forms  an  altar-piece  of  itself.  Id 
many  Roman  Catholic  churcnes  there  is  a  chape) 
or  an  altar  dedicated  expressly  to  the  mystery  of 
the  Annunciation,  the  subject  forming  of  coursa 


284      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

the  principal  decoration.  At  Florence  there  is  • 
church  —  one  of  the  most  splendid  and  interesting 
of  its  many  beautiful  edifices  —  dedicated  to  the 
Annunciation,  or  rather  to  the  Virgin  in  her  espe- 
cial character  and  dignity,  as  the  Instrument  of  the 
Incarnation,  and  thence  styled  the  church  della 
Santissima  Nunziata.  The  fine  mosaic  of  the  An- 
nunciation by  Ghirlandajo  is  placed  over  the  prin- 
cipal entrance.  Of  this  church,  and  of  the  order 
of  the  Servi,  to  whom  it  belongs,  I  have  already 
ppoken  at  length.  Here,  in  the  first  chapel  on  the 
left,  as  we  enter,  is  to  be  found  the  miraculous  pic- 
ture of  the  Annunciation,  formerly  held  in  such 
veneration,  not  merely  by  all  Florence,  but  all  Chris- 
tendom :  —  found,  but  not  seen  —  for  it  is  still  con- 
cealed from  profane  eyes,  and  exhibited  to  the 
devout  only  on  great  occasions.  The  name  of 
the  painter  is  disputed ;  but,  according  to  tradi- 
tion, it  is  the  work  of  a  certain  Bartolomeo ;  who, 
while  he  sat  meditating  on  the  various  excellences 
and  perfections  of  our  Lady,  and  most  especially 
on  her  divine  beauty,  and  thinking,  with  humility, 
how  inadequate  were  his  own  powers  to  represent 
her  worthily,  fell  asleep;  and  on  awaking,  found 
the  head  of  the  Virgin  had  been  wondrously  com- 
pleted, either  by  the  hand  of  an  angel,  or  by  that 
of  St  Luke,  who  had  descended  from  heaven  on 
purpose.  Though  this  curious  relic  has  been  fre- 
quently restored,  no  one  has  presumed  to  touch 
the  features  of  the  Virgin,  which  are,  I  am  told  — 
for  I  have  never  been  blessed  with  a  sight  of  tht 


THE   ANNUNCIATIUN    AS   A   MYSTERY.      28^ 

original  picture -- marvellously  sweet  and  beaiti- 
ful.  It  is  concealed  by  a  veil,  on  which  is  painted 
a  fine  head  of  the  Redeemer,  by  Andrea  del  Sar- 
fco ;  and  forty-two  lamps  of  silver  burn  continually 
round  it.  There  is  a  copy  in  the  Pitti  Palace,  by 
Carlo  Dolce. 

It  is  evident  that  the  Annunciation,  as  a  mystery, 
admits  of  a  style  of  treatment  which  would  not  be 
allowable  in  the  representation  of  an  event.  In 
the  former  case,  the  artist  is  emancipated  from  all 
considerations  of  locality  or  circumstance.  Wheth- 
er the  background  be  of  gold,  or  of  blue,  or  star- 
bespangled  sky,  —  a  mere  curtain,  or  a  temple  of 
gorgeous  architecture ;  whether  the  accessories  be 
the  most  simple  or  the  most  elaborate,  the  most  real 
or  the  most  ideal ;  all  this  is  of  little  moment,  and 
might  be  left  to  the  imagination  of  the  artist,  or  might 
be  modified  according  to  the  conditions  imposed  by 
the  purpose  of  the  representation  and  the  material 
employed,  so  long  as  the  chief  object  is  fulfilled  — 
the  significant  expression  of  an  abstract  dogma, 
appealing  to  the  faith,  not  to  the  senses  or  the  un- 
derstanding, of  the  observer. 

To  this  class,  then,  belong  all  those  church 
images  and  pictures  of  the  Annunciation,  either 
confined  to  the  two  personages,  with  just  suflicient 
of  attitude  and  expression  to  place  them  in  relation 
to  each  other,  or  with  such  accompaniments  as 
served  to  carry  out  the  mystical  idea,  still  keeping 
it  as  far  as  possible  removed  from  th«  region  of 
»arthly  possibilities. 

19 


184  LEGENDS   OF   THE  MADONNA. 

In  the  fifteenth  century  —  that  age  of  mysticism 
*—  we  find  the  Annunciation  not  merely  treated  aa 
an  abstract  religious  emblem,  but  as  a  sort  of  di- 
vine allegory  or  poem,  which  in  old  French  and 
Flemish  art  is  clothed  in  the  quaintest,  the  most 
curious  forms.  I  recollect  going  into  a  church  at 
Breslau,  and  finding  over  one  of  the  altars  a  most 
elaborate  carving  in  wood  of  the  Annunciation, 
Mary  is  seated  within  a  Gothic  porch  of  open 
tracery  work ;  a  unicorn  takes  refuge  in  her  boeh 
om;  outside,  a  kneeling  angel  winds  a  hunting 
horn ;  three  or  four  dogs  are  crouching  near  him. 
I  looked  and  wondered.  At  first  I  could  make  noth- 
ing of  this  singular  allegory ;  but  afterwards  found 
the  explanation  in  a  learned  French  work  on  the 
"  Stalles  d' Amiens."  I  give  the  original  passage, 
for  it  will  assist  the  reader  to  the  comprehension  of 
many  curious  works  of  art ;  but  I  do  not  venture  to 
translate  it. 

"  On  sait  qu'au  xvi*  sifecle,  le  myst^re  de  Tin- 
carnation  ^toit  souvent  represents  par  une  all^gorie 
ainsi  con<jue :  Une  licome  se  r6fugiant  au  sein  d'une 
vierge  pure,  quatre  ISvriers  la  pressant  d'une  course 
rapide,  un  veneur  ailS  sonnant  de  la  trompette.  La 
science  de  la  zoologie  mystique  du  temps  aide  k  en 
trouver  Texplication  \  le  fabuleux  animal  dont  Tu- 
nique  corne  ne  blessait  que  pour  purger  de  tout  ve- 
nin  Fendroit  du  corps  qu'elle  avoit  touchS,  figuroit 
Jesus  Christ,  mSdecin  et  sauveur  des  ames ;  on 
donnait  aux  ISvriers  agiles  les  noms  de  Misericor 
dia,  Veritas,  Justitia,  Pax,  les  quatre  raisons  qu. 


THE   ANNUNCIATION   AS   A   MYSTERT.     287 

Dnl  p/ess^  le  Verbe  dternel  de  sortir  de  son  reposi 
mais  comme  c'etoit  par  la  Vierge  Marie  qu'il  avoit 
roulu  descendre  parmi  les  hommes  et  se  mettre  en 
leur  puissance,  on  croyoit  ne  pouvoir  mieux  faire 
que  de  choisir  dans  la  fable,  le  fait  d'une  pucelle 
pouvant  seule  servir  de  pi^ge  a  la  licorne,  en  Tatti- 
ranl"  par  le  charme  et  le  parfum  de  son  sein  virgi- 
nal qu'elle  lui  presentoit ;  enfin  Tange  Gabriel  con- 
courant  au  mystere  etoit  bien  reconnoissable  sous  les 
traits  du  veneur  aile  lan^ant  les  l^vriers  et  em- 
bouchant  la  trompette." 

It  appears  that  this  was  an  accepted  religious 
allegory,  as  familiar  in  the  sixteenth  century  as 
those  of  Spenser's  "  Fairy  Queen "  or  the  "  PU- 
grim's  Progress  "  are  to  us.  I  have  since  found  :t 
frequently  reproduced  in  the  old  French  and  Ger- 
man prints :  there  is  a  specimen  in  the  British  Mu- 
seum ;  and  there  is  a  picture  similarly  treated  in 
the  Mus^e  at  Amiens.  I  have  never  seen  it  in  an 
Italian  picture  or  print ;  unless  a  print  after  Guide, 
wherein  a  beautiful  maiden  is  seated  under  a  tree, 
and  a  unicorn  has  sought  refuge  in  her  lap, 
be  intended  to  convey  the  same  far-fetched  alle- 
gory. 

Very  common,  however,  in  Italian  art,  is  a  less 
fantastic,  but  still  wholly  poetical  version  of  the 
Annunciation,  representing,  in  fact,  not  the  An- 
nunciation, but  the  Incarnation.  Thus,  in  a  pic- 
ture by  Giovanni  Sanzio  (the  father  of  Rapha- 
el) (Brera,  Milan),  Marv  stands  under  a  splendid 


B88  liEGENDS    OF   THE   MADONXA. 

portico ;  she  appears  as  if  just  risen  from  her  seat 
her  hands  are  meekly  folded  over  her  bosom ;  hei 
head  declined.  The  angel  kneels  outside  the  por- 
tico, holding  forth  his  lily;  while  above,  in  the 
heavens,  the  Padre  Eterno  sends  forth  the  Re- 
deemer, who,  in  form  of  the  infant  Christ  bearing 
his  cross,  floats  downwards  towards  the  earth,  pre- 
ceded by  the  mystic  Dove.  This  manner  of  repre- 
senting the  Incarnation  is  strongly  disapproved  of 
by  the  Abbe  M6ry  (v.  Th^ologie  des  Peintres),  as 
not  only  an  error,  but  a  heresy :  yet  it  was  fre- 
quently repeated  in  the  sixteenth  century. 

The  Annunciation  is  also  a  mystery  when  cer- . 
tain  emblems  are  introduced  conveying  a  certain 
signification  ;  as  when  Mary  is  seated  on  a  throne, 
wearing  a  radiant  crown  of  mingled  gems  and  flow- 
ers, and  receives  the  message  of  the  angel  with  all 
the  majesty  that  could  be  expressed  by  the  painter ; 
or  is  seated  in  a  garden  enclosed  by  a  hedge  of 
roses  (the  Hortus  clausus  or  conclusus  of  the 
Canticles)  :  or  where  the  angel  holds  in  his 
hands  the  sealed  book,  as  in  the  famous  altar- 
piece  at  Cologne. 

In  a  picture  by  Simone  Memmi,  the  firgin 
seated  on  a  Gothic  throne  receives,  as  the  higher 
aiad  superior  being,  yet  with  a  shrinking  timidity 
the  salutation  of  the  angel,  wLo  comes  as  the  mes- 
senger of  peace,  olive-crowned,  and  bearing  a 
branch  of  olive  in  his  hand.  (Florence  Gal.) 
This  poetical  version  is  very  characteristic  of  th« 
•arly  Siena  school,  in  which  we  often  find  a  ce» 


THE    ANNUNCIATION   AS   A    MYSTERY.      289 

tain  fanciful  and  original  way  of  treating  well- 
known  subjects.  Taddeo  Bartoli,  another  Sienese, 
and  Martin  Schoen,  the  most  poetical  of  the  early 
Germans,  also  adopted  the  olive-symbol;  and  we 
find  it  also  in  the  tabernacle  of  King  R^ne,  already 
described. 

The  treatment  is  clearly  devotional  and  idea) 
where  attendant  saints  and  votaries  stand  or  knee\ 
around,  contemplating  with  devout  gratitude  oi 
ecstatic  wonder  the  divine  mystery.  Thus,  in  a 
remarkable  and  most  beautiful  picture  by  Fra  Bar- 
tolomeo,  the  Virgin  is  seated  on  her  throne;  the 
angel  descends  from  on  high  bearing  his  lily ; 
around  the  throne  attend  St.  John  the  Baptist  and 
St.  Francis,  St.  Jerome,  St.  Paul,  and  St.  Marga- 
ret. (Bologna  Gal.)  Again,  in  a  very  beautiful 
picture  by  Francia,  Mary  stands  in  the  midst  of  an 
open  landscape  ;  her  hands,  folded  over  each  other, 
press  to  her  bosom  a  book  closed  and  clasped  :  St. 
Jerome  stands  on  the  right,  John  the  Baptist  on 
the  left ;  both  look  up  with  a  devout  expression  to 
the  angel  descending  from  above.  In  both  these 
examples  Mary  is  very  nobly  and  expressively  rep- 
resented as  the  chosen  and  predestined  vehicle  of 
haman  redemption.  It  is  not  here  the  Annuncia- 
tion, but  the  "  Sacratissima  Annunziata"  we  see 
\)efore  us.  In  a  curious  picture  by  Francesco  da 
Cotignola,  Mary  stands  on  a  sculptured  pedestal,  in 
the  midst  of  an  architectural  decoration  of  manv- 
eoloured  marbles,  most  elaborately  painted  :  through 
«n   opening  is  seen  a  distant  landscape,  and  the 


290  LEGENDS    OF    THE   MADONNA. 

blue  sky ;  on  her  right  stands  St.  John  the  Baptist, 
pointing  upwards ;  on  her  left  St.  Francis,  ado^ 
ing;  the  votary  kneels  in  front.  (Berlin  Gal.) 
Votive  pictures  of  the  Annunciation  were  fre- 
quently expressive  offerings  from  those  who  de- 
sired, or  those  who  had  received,  the  blessing  of 
an  heir  ;  and  this  I  take  to  be  an  instance. 

In  the  following  example,  the  picture  is  votive  in 
another  sense,  and  altogether  poetical.  The  Virgin 
Mary  receives  the  message  of  the  angel,  as  usual ; 
but  before  her,  at  a  little  distance,  kneels  the  Car- 
dinal Torrecremata,  who  presents  three  young 
girls,  also  kneeling,  to  one  of  whom  the  Virgin 
gives  a  purse  of  money.  This  curious  and  beauti- 
ful picture  becomes  intelligible,  when  we  find  that  it 
was  painted  for  a  charitable  community,  instituted 
by  Torrecremata,  for  educating  and  endowing  poor 
orphan  girls,  and  styled  the  "  Confraternita  delV 
Annunziata"  * 

In  the  charming  Annunciation  by  Angelico,  the 
scene  is  in  the  cloister  of  his  own  convent  of  St 
Mark.  A  Dominican  (St.  Peter  Martyr)  stands 
in  the  background  with  h^nds  folded  in  prayer.  1 
might  add  many  beautiful  examples  from  Fra  Bar- 
tolomeo,  and  in  sculpture  from  Benedetto  Maiano, 
Luca  della  Robbia,  and  others,  but  have  said 
enough  to  enable  the  observer  to  judge  of  the  in- 
dention of  the  artist.  The  Annunciation  by  San- 
•ovino  among  the  bas-reliefs  which  cover  the  chape' 
at  Loretto  is  of  great  elegance.  / 

•  B«uoz7iO  Gozzoli,  in  S.  Maria  sopra  Minerva,  Rome. 


THE  an:^unciation  as  an  event.     291 

I  must,  however,  notice  one  more  picture.  Ot 
fix  Annunciations  painted  by  Rubens,  five  repre- 
lent  the  event ;  the  sixth  is  one  of  his  magnificent 
and  most  palpable  allegories,  all  glowing  with  life 
and  reaUty.  Here  Mary  kneels  on  the  summit  of  a 
flight  of  steps ;  a  dove,  encompassed  by  cherubim, 
hovers  over  her  head.  Before  her  kneels  the  celes- 
tial messenger ;  behind  him  Moses  and  Aaron,  with 
David  and  other  patriarchal  ancestors  of  Christ.  In 
the  clouds  above  is  seen  the  heavenly  Father ;  on 
his  right  are  two  female  figures,  Peace  and  Recon- 
ciliation ;  on  his  left,  angels  bear  the  ark  of  the 
covenant.  In  the  lower  part  of  the  picture,  stand 
Isaiah  and  Jeremiah,  with  four  sibyls :  —  thus  con- 
necting the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament,  and 
the  promises  made  to  the  Gentile  nations  through 
the  sibyls,  with  the  fulfilment  of  both  in  the  mes* 
Bage  from  on  high. 


THE  ANNUNCIATION  AS  AN  EVENT. 

Had  the  Annunciation  to  Mary  been  merely 
mentioned  as  an  awful  and  incomprehensible  vis- 
ion, it  would  have  been  better  to  have  adhered  to 
the  mystical  style  of  treatment,  or  left  it  alone 
altogether;  but  the  Scripture  history,  by  giving 
the  whole  narration  as  a  simple  fact,  a  real  event, 
left  it  free  for  representation  as  such;  and,  as 
fuch,  the  iancy  of  the  artist  was  to  be  controlled 


81)2  LEGENDS   OF    THE   MADONNA. 

Mid  limited  only  by  the  words  of  Scripture  at 
commonly  understood  and  interpreted,  and  by 
those  proprieties  of  time,  place,  and  circumstance, 
which  would  be  required  in  the  representation  of 
any  other  historical  incident  or  action. 

When  all  the  accompaniments  show  that  noth- 
ing more  was  in  the  mind  of  the  artist  than  the  aino 
to  exhibit  an  incident  in  the  life  of  the  Virgin,  o* 
an  introduction  to  that  of  our  Lord,  the  representa- 
tion is  no  longer  mystical  and  devotional,  but  histor- 
ical. The  story  was  to  be  told  with  all  the  fidehty^ 
or  at  least  all  the  likelihood,  that  was  possible ;  and 
it  is  clear  that,  in  this  case,  the  subject  admitted, 
and  even  required,  a  more  dramatic  treatment, 
with  such  accessories  and  accompaniments  as 
might  bring  the  scene  within  the  sphere  of  the 
actual.  In  this  sense  it  is  not  to  be  mistaken. 
Although  the  action  is  of  itself  so  very  simple, 
and  the  actors  confined  to  two  persons,  it  is  as- 
tonishing to  note  the  infinite  variations  of  which 
this  favourite  theme  has  been  found  susceptible. 
Whether  all  these  be  equally  appropriate  and 
laudable,  is  quite  another  question ;  and  in  how 
for  the  painters  have  truly  interpreted  the  Scrip- 
tural narration,  is  now  to  be  considered. 

And  first,  with  regard  to  the  time,  which  is  not 
especially  mentioned.  It  was  presumed  by  the 
Fathers  and  early  commentators  on  Scripture,  thai 
the  Annunciation  must  have  taken  place  in  early 
•pring-time,  at  eventide,  soon  after  sunset,  the  houi 
lince  consecrated  as  the  "  Ave  M^iria,"  as  the  be! 


THE   AKNUNCIAIION    AS   AN   EVENT.        298 

which  announces  it  is  called  the  "  Angelus ; "  *  but 
other  authorities  say  that  it  was  rather  at  midnight, 
because  the  nativity  of  our  Lord  took  place  at  the 
corresponding  hour  in  the  following  December, 
This  we  find  exactly  attended  to  by  many  of  the 
old  painters,  and  indicated  either  by  the  moon  and 
stars  in  the  sky,  or  by  a  taper  or  a  lamp  burning 
near. 

With  regard  to  the  locality,  we  are  told  by  St 
Luke  that  the  angel  Gabriel  was  sent  from  Grod, 
and  that  "he  came  in  to  Mary"  (Luke  i.  28), 
which  seems  to  express  that  she  was  within  her 
house. 

In  describing  the  actual  scene  of  the  interview 
between  the  angel  and  Mary,  the  legendary  story 
of  the  Virgin  adheres  very  closely  to  the  scriptural 
text.  But  it  also  relates,  that  Mary  went  forth  at 
evening  to  draw  water  from  the  fountain ;  that  she 
heard  a  voice  which  said,  "  Hail  thou  that  art  full 
of  grace  I "  and  thereupon  being  troubled,  she 
looked  to  the  right  and  to  the  left,  and  seeing  na 
one,  returned  to  her  house^  and  sat  down  to  hei 

♦  io  Lord  Byron :  — 

«  Ave  Maria !  blessed  be  the  hour ! 

The  tune,  the  clime,  the  spot,  where  I  so  oft 
Haye  felt  that  moment  in  its  fullest  power 
Sink  o'er  the  earth  so  beautiful  and  soft. 
While  swung  the  deep  bell  in  the  distant  tower. 

Or  the  feint  dying  day-hymn  stole  aloft. 
And  not  a  breath  crept  through  the  rosy  air. 
And  yet  the  forest  leaves  seem'd  stir^'i  with  pntjif  •• 


B94  LEGENDS    OF    THE   MADONNA. 

work.  (Protevangelion,  ix.  7.)  Had  any  exact 
attention  been  paid  to  oriental  customs,  Mary 
might  have  been  working  or  reading  or  meditating 
on  the  roof  of  her  house ;  but  this  has  not  suggest- 
ed itself  in  any  instance  that  I  can  remember.  We 
have,  as  the  scene  of  the  interview,  an  interior 
which  is  sometimes  like  an  oratory,  sometimes  a 
portico  with  open  arcades ;  but  more  generally  a 
bedroom.  The  poverty  of  Joseph  and  Mary,  and 
their  humble  condition  in  life,  are  sometimes  at- 
tended to,  but  not  always ;  for,  according  to  one 
tradition,  the  house  at  Nazareth  was  that  which 
Mary  had  inherited  from  her  parents,  Joachim 
and  Anna,  who  were  people  of  substance.  Hence, 
the  painters  had  an  excuse  for  making  the  chamber 
richly  furnished,  the  portico  sustained  by  marble 
pillars,  or  decorated  with  sculpture.  In  the  Ger- 
man and  Flemish  pictures,  the  artist,  true  to  the 
national  characteristic  of  naive  and  literal  illustra- 
tion, gives  us  a  German  or  a  Gothic  chamber,  with 
a  lattice  window  of  small  panes  of  glass,  and  a 
couch  with  pillows,  or  a  comfortable  four-post  bed- 
stead, furnished  with  draperies,  thus  imparting  to 
the  whole  scene  an  air  of  the  most  vivid  homely 
reality. 

As  for  the  accessories,  the  most  usual,  almost 
indispensable,  is  the  pot  of  lilies,  the  symbolical 
Fleur  de  Marie.,  which  I  have  already  explained 
at  length.  There  is  also  a  basket  containing  nee- 
ile  work  and  implements  of  female  industry,  at 
•cissors,  &c.,  not  merely  to  express  Mary's  habitual 


THE   ANNUNCIATION   AS   AN   EVENT.        295 

ffidustry,  but  because  it  is  related  that  when  she 
returned  to  her  house,  "  she  took  the  purple  linen, 
and  sat  down  to  work  it."  The  work-basket  is 
therefore  seldom  omitted.  Sometimes  a  distaff  lies 
at  her  feet,  as  in  Raphael's  Annunciation.  In 
old  German  pictures  we  have  often  a  spinning- 
wheel.  To  these  emblems  of  industry  is  often 
added  a  basket,  or  a  dish,  containing  fruit ;  and 
near  it  a  pitcher  of  water  to  express  the  temper- 
ance of  the  blessed  Virgin. 

There  is  grace  and  meaning  in  the  introduc- 
tion of  birds,  always  emblems  of  the  spiritual. 
Titian  places  a  tame  partridge  at  the  feet  of  Mary, 
which  expresses  her  tenderness  ;  but  the  introduc- 
tion of  a  cat,  as  in  Barroccio's  picture,  is  insu^ 
ferable. 

The  archangel  Gabriel,  "  one  of  those  who  stand 
continually  in  the  presence  of  God,"  having  re- 
ceived his  mission,  descends  to  earth.  In  the  very 
earliest  representation  of  the  Annunciation,  as  an 
event  (Mosaic,  S.  Maria  Maggiore),  we  have  this 
descent  of  the  winged  spirit  from  on  high ;  and  I 
have  seen  other  instances.  There  Is  a  small  and 
beautiful  sketch  by  Garofalo  (Alton  Towers),  in 
which,  from  amidst  a  flood  of  light,  and  a  choir  of 
celestial  spirits,  such  as  Milton  describes  as  adoring 
the  "  divine  sacrifice  "  proclaimed  for  sinful  man 
(Par.  Lost,  b.  ill.),  the  archangel  spreads  his  lucid 
wings,  and  seems  just  about  to  take  his  flight  to 
Nacareth.     He  was  accompanied,  says  the  Italian 


296  LEGENDS   OF   THE   MADOKNA. 

legend,  by  a  train  of  lower  angels,  anxious  to  b^ 
hold  and  reverence  their  Queen ;  these  remained, 
however,  at  the  door,  or  "  before  the  gate,**  while 
Gabriel  entered. 

The  old  German  masters  are  fond  of  represent- 
ing him  as  entering  by  a  door  in  the  background  ; 
while  the  serene  Yir^n,  seated  in  front,  seenM 
aware  of  his  presence  without  seeing  him. 

In  some  of  the  old  pictures,  he  comes  in  flying 
from  above,  or  he  is  upborne  by  an  effulgent  cloud, 
and  surrounded  by  a  glory  which  lights  the  whole 
picture, —  a  really  celestial  messenger,  as  in  a 
fresco  by  Spinello  Aretino.  In  others,  he  come« 
gliding  in,  "  smooth  sliding  without  step ; "  some- 
times he  enters  like  a  heavenly  ambassador,  and 
little  angels  hold  up  his  train.  In  a  picture  by 
Tintoretto,  he  comes  rushing  in  as  upon  a  whirl- 
wind, followed  by  a  legion  of  lesser  angels ;  while 
^n  the  outside  of  the  building,  Joseph  the  carpen- 
ter is  seen  quietly  at  his  work.  (Venice,  School 
Df  S.  Rocco.) 

But,  whether  walking  or  flying,  Gabriel  bears, 
of  course,  the  conventional  angelic  form,  that  of 
the  human  creature,  winged,  beautiful,  and  radiant 
with  eternal  youth,  yet  with  a  grave  and  serious 
mien.  In  the  later  pictures,  the  crapery  given  to 
the  angel  is  offensively  scanty;  his  sandals,  and 
bare  arms,  and  fluttering  robe,  too  much  a  Van* 
tique  ;  he  comes  in  the  attitude  of  a  flying  Mercury 
or  a  dancer  in  a  ballet.  But  in  the  early  Italian 
Oictures  his  dress  is  arranged  with  a  kind  of  soleoui 


THE   ANNUNCIATION.  297 

propriety :  it  is  that  of  an  acolyte,  white  and  full, 
and  falling  in  large  folds  over  his  arms,  and  in  gen- 
eral concealing  his  feet.  In  the  German  pictures, 
he  often  wears  the  priestly  robe,  richly  embroid- 
ered, and  cls^sped  in  front  by  a  jewel.  His  ambro- 
sial curls  fall  over  this  cope  in  "  hyacinthine  flow." 
The  wings  are  essential,  and  never  omitted.  They 
are  white,  or  many-coloured,  eyed  like  the  pea- 
cock's train,  or  bedropped  with  gold.  He  usually 
bears  the  lily  in  his  hand,  but  not  always.  Some- 
times it  is  the  sceptre,  the  ancient  attribute  of 
a  herald;  and  this  has  a  scroll  around  it,  with 
the  words,  "  Ave  Maria  gratia  plena  I "  The 
sceptre  or  wand  is  occasionally  surmounted  by  a 
cross. 

In  general,  the  palm  is  ^ven^  to  the  angel  who 
announces  the  death  of  Mary.  In  one  or  two  in- 
stances 'Only  I  have  seen  the  palm  given  to  the 
angel  Gabriel,  as  in  a  predella  by  Angelico ;  for 
which,  however,  the  painter  had  the  authority  of 
Dante,  or  Dante  some  authority  earlier  still.  He 
Bays  of  Gabriel, 

"  That  he  bore  the  palm 
Down  unto  Mary  when  the  Son  of  God 
Vouchsafed  to  clothe  him  in  terrestrial  weeds." 

The  olive-bougii  has  a  mystical  sense  wherevei 
adopted :  it  is  the  symbol  of  peace  on  earth. 
Often  the  angel  bears  neither  lily,  nor  sceptre,  nor 
palm,  nor  olive.  His  hanas  are  folded  on  hia 
bosom ;  or,  with  one  hand  stretched  forth,  and  th« 


ids  LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA- 

other  pointing  upwards^  he  declares  his  mission 
from  on  high. 

In  the  old  Greek  pictures,  and  in  the  most  an- 
cient Italian  examples,  the  angel  stands  ;  as  in  the 
picture  by  Cimabue,  wherein  the  Greek  model  is 
very  exactly  followed.  According  to  the  Roman 
Catholic  belief,  Mary  is  Queen  of  heaven,  and  of 
angels  —  the  superior  being;  consequently,  there 
is  propriety  in  making  the  angel  deliver  his  mes- 
sage kneeling :  but  even  according  to  the  Protes- 
tant belief  the  attitude  would  not  be  unbecoming, 
for  the  angel,  having  uttered  his  salutation,  might 
well  prostrate  himself  as  witness  of  the  transcend 
ing  miracle,  and  beneath  the  overshadowing  pres- 
ence of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Now,  as  to  the  aj^titude  and  occupation  of  Mary 
at  the  moment  the  angel  entered,  authorities  are 
not  agreed.  It  is  usual  to  exhibit  her  as  kneeling 
in  prayer,  or  reading  with  a  large  book  open  on  a 
desk  before  her.  St.  Bernard  says  that  she  was 
Btudying  the  book  of  the  prophet  Isaiah,  and  as  she 
recited  the  verse,  "  Behold,  a  Virgin  shall  con- 
ceive, and  bear  a  son,"  she  thought  within  her  heart, 
jn  her  great  humility,  "  How  blessed  the  woman 
of  whom  these  words  are  written  !  Would  I  might 
be  but  her  handmaid  to  serve  her,  and  allowed  to 
kiss  her  feet ! "  —  when,  in  the  same  instant,  the 
Wondrous  vision  burst  upon  her,  and  the  holy 
prophecy  was  realized  in  herself.  (II  perfettc 
Legendario.) 

I  tMnk  it  is  a  manifest  fault  to  disturb  the  sub 


THE   ANNUNCIATION.  29 J 

hme  tenor  of  the  scene  by  representing  Mary  as 
starting  up  in  alarm ;  for,  in  the  first  place,  she 
was  accustomed,  as  we  have  seen,  to  the  perpetual 
ministry  of  angels,  who  daily  and  hourly  attended 
on  her.  It  is,  indeed,  said  that  Mary  was  troubled ; 
but  it  was  not  the  presence,  but  the  "  saying  *'  of 
the  angel  which  troubled  her  —  it  was  the  question 
''  how  this  should  be  ?  "  (Luke  i.  29.)  The  atti- 
tude,  therefore,  which  some  painters  have  given  to 
her,  as  if  she  had  started  from  her  seat,  not  only  ir 
terror,  but  in  indignation,  is  altogether  misplaced. 
A  signal  instance  is  the  statue  of  the  Virgin  by 
Mocchi  in  the  choir  of  the  cathedral  at  Orvieto,  so 
grand  in  itself,  and  yet  so  offensive  as  a  devotional 
figure.  Misplaced  is  also,  I  think,  the  sort  of  timid 
shrinking  surprise  which  is  the  expression  in  somo 
pictures.  The  moment  is  much  too  awful,  the  ex- 
pectance much  too  sublime,  for  any  such  human, 
girlish  emotions.  If  the  painter  intend  to  express 
the  moment  in  which  the  angel  appears  and  utters 
the  salutation,  "  Hail ! "  then  Mary  may  be  standing, 
and  her  looks  directed  towards  him,  as  in  a  fine  ma- 
jestic Annunciation  of  Andrea  del  Sarto.  Standing 
was  the  antique  attitude  of  prayer ;  so  that  if  we 
suppose  her  to  have  been  interrupted  in  her  devo- 
tions, the  attitude  is  still  appropriate.  But  if  that 
moment  be  chosen  in  which  she  expressed  her  sub- 
mission to  the  divine  will,  "  Behold  the  handmaid 
of  the  Lord  I  let  it  be  unto  me  according  to  thy 
9ford  I "  then  she  might  surely  kneel  with  bowed 
aead,  and  folded  hands,  and  "downcast  eyes  be- 


KM)  LEGENDS   OF   THE   MADONNA. 

Heath  th'  almighty  Dove."  No  attitude  could  be 
too  humble  to  express  that  response;  and  Dante 
has  given  us,  as  the  most  perfect  illustration  of  the 
virtue  of  humility,  the  sentiment  and  attitude  of 
Mary  when  submitting  herself  to  the  divine  wilL 
(Purg.  X.,  Gary's  Trans.) 

"  The  angel  (who  came  down  to  earth 
"With  tidings  of  the  peace  to  many  years 
Wept  for  in  vain,  that  op'd  the  heavenly  gates 
From  their  long  interdict)  before  us  seem'd 
In  a  sweet  act,  so  sculptured  to  the  life, 
He  look'd  no  silent  image.    One  had  sworn 
He  had  said  '  Hail !  *  for  She  was  imag'd  there, 
By  whom  the  key  did  open  to  Grod's  love; 
And  in  her  act  as  sensibly  imprest 
That  word,  *  Behold  the  handmaid  of  the  Lord,' 
As  figure  seal'd  on  wax." 

And  very  beautifully  has  Flaxman  transferred  the 
sculpture  "  divinely  wrought  upon  the  rock  of  mar- 
ble white  "  to  earthly  form. 

The  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  historical 
Annunciations  is  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  words 
of  St.  Luke,  and  the  visible  form  of  the  Dove  is 
lonventional  and  authorized.  In  many  pictures, 
the  celestial  Dove  enters  by  the  open  casement. 
Sometimes  it  seems  to  brood  immediately  over  the 
head  of  the  Virgin  ;  sometimes  it  hovers  towards 
her  bosom.  As  for  the  perpetual  introduction  of 
the  emblem  of  the  Padre  Eterno,  seen  above  the 
•ky,  under  the  usual  half-figure  of  a  kingly  ancient 
man,  surrounded  by  a  glory  of  cherubim,  and  send 


THE   ANNUNCIATION.  801 

mg  forth  upon  a  beam  of  light  the  immaculate 
Dove,  there  is  nothing  to  be  said  but  the  usual  ex^ 
cuse  for  the  mediaeval  ^  artists,  that  certainly  there 
was  no  conscious  irreverence.  The  old  painters, 
great  as  they  were  in  art,  lived  in  ignorant  but 
zealous  times  —  in  times  when  faith  was  so  fixed, 
so  much  a  part  of  the  life  and  soul,  that  it  was  not 
easily  shocked  or  shaken  ;  as  it  was  not  founded  in 
knowledge  or  reason,  so  nothing  that  startled  the 
reason  could  impair  it.  Religion,  which  now 
speaks  to  us  through  words,  then  spoke  to  the 
people  through  visible  forms  universally  accepted ; 
and,  in  the  fine  arts,  we  accept  such  forms  accord- 
ing to  the  feeling  which  then  existed  in  men's 
minds,  and  which,  in  its  sincerity,  demands  our  re- 
spect, though  now  we  might  not,  could  not,  tolerate 
the  repetition.  We  must  also  remember  that  it  was 
not  in  the  ages  of  ignorance  and  faith  that  we  find 
the  grossest  materialism  in  art.  It  was  in  the  learned, 
half-pagan  sixteenth  and  the  polished  seventeenth 
century,  that  this  materialized  theology  became 
most  ofiensive.  Of  all  the  artists  who  have  sinned 
in  the  Annunciation  —  and  they  are  many  —  Nico- 
16  Poussin  is  perhaps  the  worst.  Yet  he  was  a 
good,  a  pious  man,  as  well  as  a  learned  and  aecom 
plished  painter.  All  through  the  history  of  the  art, 
the  French  show  themselves  as  the  most  signal  vio- 
lators of  good  taste,  and  wnat  they  have  invented  a 
Irord  for  —  bienseance.  They  are  worse  than  the 
old  Grermans;  worse  than  the  modem  Spaniards 
—  and  that  is  saying  much. 
20 


502      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

In  Raphael's  Annunciation,  Mary  is  seated  in  a 
reclining  attitude,  leaning  against  the  side  of  her 
couch,  and  holding  a  book.  The  angel,  whose  atti- 
tude expresses  a  graceful  empressement,  kneels  at 
some  distance,  holding  the  Uly. 

Michael  Angelo  gives  us  a  most  majestic  Virgin 
standing  on  the  steps  of  a  prie-Dieu,  and  turning 
with  hands  upraised  towards  the  angel,  who  appears 
to  have  entered  by  the  open  door ;  his  figure  is 
most  clumsy  and  material,  and  his  attitude  un- 
meaning and  ungraceful.  It  is,  I  think,  the  only 
instance  in  which  Michael  Angelo  has  given  wings 
to  an  angelic  being;  for  here  they  could  not  be 
dispensed  with. 

In  a  beautiful  Annunciation  by  Johan  Van 
Eyck  (Munich  Gal.,  Cabinet  iii.  35),  the  Virgin 
kneels  at  a  desk  with  a  book  before  her.  She  has 
long  fair  hair,  and  a  noble  intellectual  brow.  Ga- 
briel, holding  his  sceptre,  stands  in  the  door-way. 
The  Dove  enters  by  the  lattice.  A  bed  is  in  the 
background,  and  in  front  a  pot  of  lilies.  In  an- 
other Annunciation  by  Van  Eyck,  painted  on  the 
Ghent  altar-piece,  we  have  the  mystic,  not  the  his- 
torical, representation,  and  a  very  beautiful  effect 
b  produced  by  clothing  both  the  angel  and  Mary 
m  robes  of  pure  white.     (Berlin  Gal.,  520,  521.) 

In  an  engraving  after  Rembrandt,  the  Virgin 
kneeU  by  a  fountain,  and  the  angel  kneels  on  the 
opposite  side.  Thb  seems  to  express  the  legends 
■y  scene. 


THE  VISITATION.  308 

rhese  few  observations  on  the  general  arrange- 
ment of  the  theme,  whether  mystical  or  historical, 
will,  I  hope,  assist  the  observer  in  discriminating 
for  himself.  I  must  not  venture  further,  for  we 
hav3  a  wide  range  of  subjects  before  us. 


THE   VISITATION. 

Hal.  La  Visitazione  di  Maria.      Fr.  La  visitation  de  la  Tieifi 
Ger,  Die  Heimsuchung  Marii.    July  2. 

After  the  Annunciation  of  the  angel,  the  Scrip- 
ture goes  on  to  relate  how  "  Mary  arose  and  went 
up  into  the  hill  country  with  haste,  to  the  house  of 
her  cousin  Elizabeth,  and  saluted  her."  This 
meeting  of  the  two  kinswomen  is  the  subject  styled 
in  art  the  "  Visitation,"  and  sometimes  the  "  Salu- 
tation of  Elizabeth."  It  is  of  considerable  impor- 
tance, in  a  series  of  the  life  of  the  Virgin,  as  an 
event ;  and  also,  when  taken  separately  in  its  reli- 
gious significance,  as  being  the  first  recognition  of 
the  character  of  the  Messiah.  "Whence  is  this  to 
me,"  exclaims  Elizabeth,  "  that  the  mother  of  my 
Lord  should  come  to  me  ?  "  (Luke  i.  43)  ;  and  as 
she  spoke  this  through  the  influence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  not  through  knowledge,  she  Ls  consid- 
ered in  the  light  of  a  prophetess. 

Of  Elizabeth  I  must  premise  a  few  words,  be- 
cause m  many  representations  relating  to  the  life 
of  the  Virgin,  and  particularly  in  those  domestic 
groups,  the  Holy  Familiss  properly  so  called,  she 


J 04      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

IS  a  personage  of  great  importance,  and  we  ough 
to  be  able,  by  some  preconceived  idea  of  her  bear- 
ing and  character,  to  test  the  propriety  of  that  im- 
personation usually  adopted  by  the  artists.  We 
must  remember  that  she  was  much  older  than  her 
cousin,  a  woman  "  well  stricken  in  years ; "  but  it  is 
a  great  mistake  to  represent  her  as  old,  as  wrinkled 
and  decrepit,  as  some  painters  have  done.  We  are 
told  that  she  was  righteous  before  the  Lord,  "  walk- 
ing in  all  his  commandments  blameless : "  the 
manner  in  which  she  received  the  visit  of  Mary, 
acknowledging  with  a  glad  humility  the  higher 
destinies  of  her  young  relative,  show  her  to  have 
been  free  from  all  envy  and  jealousy.  Therefore 
all  pictures  of  Elizabeth  should  exhibit  her  as  an 
elderly,  but  not  an  aged  matron  ;  a*  dignified,  mild, 
and  gracious  creature ;  one  selected  to  high  honour 
by  the  Searcher  of  hearts,  who,  looking  down  on 
hers,  had  beheld  it  pure  from  any  secret  taint  of 
selfishness,  even  as  her  conduct  had  been  blameless 
before  man.* 

Such  a  woman  as  we  believe  Mary  to  have  been 
must  have  loved  and  honoured  such  a  woman  as 
Elizabeth.  Wherefore,  having  heard  that  Eliz»* 
beth  had  been  exalted  to  a  miraculous  motherhood, 
she  made  haste  to  visit  her,  not  to  ask  her  advice, 
—  for  being  graced  with  all  good  gifts  of  the  Holy 

*  For  a  ftill  account  of  the  legends  relating  to  Elizabeth,  thf 
mother  of  the  Baptist,  see  the  fourth  series  of  Sacred  antl  L» 
fendary  Art. 


THE   VISITATION,  305 

Spirit,  and  herself  the  mother  of  Wisdom,  she 
could  not  need  advice, — but  to  sympathize  with 
her  cousin  and  reveal  what  had  happened  to  her- 
self. 

Thus  then  they  met,  "  these  two  mothers  of  two 
great  princes,  of  whom  one  was  pronounced  the 
greatest  born  of  woman,  and  the  other  was  hia 
Lord : "  happiest  and  most  exalted  of  all  woman- 
kind before  or  since,  "  needs  must  they  have  dis- 
coursed like  seraphim  and  the  most  ecstasied  order 
of  Intelligences  I "  Such  was  the  blessed  encounter 
represented  in  the  Visitation. 

The  number  of  the  figures,  the  locality  and  cir- 
cumstances, vary  greatly.  Sometimes  we  have 
only  the  two  women,  without  accessories  of  any 
kind,  and  nothing  interferes  with  the  high  solem- 
nity of  that  moment  in  which  Elizabeth  confesses 
the  mother  of  her  Lord.  The  better  to  express  this 
willing  homage,  this  momentous  prophecy,  she  ia 
often  kneeling.  Other  figures  are  frequently  in- 
troduced, because  it  could  not  be  supposed  that 
Mary  made  the  journey  from  Nazareth  to  the 
dwelling  of  Zacharias  near  Jerusalem,  a  distance 
of  fifty  miles,  alone.  Whether  her  husband  Joseph 
accompanied  her,  is  doubtful ;  and  while  many 
artists  have  introduced  him,  others  have  omitted 
him  altogether.  According  to  the  ancient  Greek 
formula  laid  down  for  the  religious  painters,  Mary 
is  accompanied  by  a  servant  or  a  boy,  who  carries 
%  stick  across  his  shoulder,  and  a  basket  slung  to  it. 


106      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

The  olvl  Italians  who  followed  the  Byzantine  model* 
seldom  omit  this  attendant,  but  in  some  instances 
(as  in  the  magnificent  composition  of  Michael  An 
gelo,  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Bromley,  of  Wootten) 
a  handmaid  bearing  a  basket  on  her  head  is  substi- 
tuted for  the  boy.  In  many  instances  Joseph,  at- 
tired as  a  traveller,  appears  behind  the  Virgin,  and 
Zacharias,  in  his  priestly  turban  and  costume,  be- 
hind Elizabeth. 

The  locality  is  often  an  open  porch  or  a  garden 
in  front  of  a  house  ;  and  this  garden  of  Zachariag 
is  celebrated  in  Eastern  tradition.  It  is  related 
that  the  blessed  Virgm,  during  her  residence  with 
her  cousin  Elizabeth,  frequently  recreated  herself 
by  walking  in  the  garden  of  Zacharias,  while  she 
meditated  on  the  strange  and  lofty  destiny  to  which 
she  jras  appointed;  and  further,  that  happening 
one  day  to  touch  a  certain  flower,  which  grew 
there,  with  her  most  blessed  hand,  from  being  in- 
odorous before,  it  became  from  that  moment  deli- 
ciously  fragrant.  The  garden  therefore  was  a  fit 
place  for  the  meeting. 

1.  The  earliest  representation  of  the  Visitation 
to  which  I  can  refer  is  a  rude  but  not  ungraceful 
dlrawing,  in  the  Catacombs  at  Rome,  of  two  women 
embracing.  It  is  not  of  very  high  antiquity,  per- 
haps the  seventh  or  eighth  century,  but  there  can 
be  no  doubt  about  the  subject.  (Cemetery  of 
Julius,  V.  Bosio,  Roma  sotterana.) 

2.  Cimabue  has  followed  the  Greek  formula,  and 


THE    VISITATION.  307 

lis  simple  group  appears  to  me,  to  have  great  feel- 
ing and  simplicity. 

3.  More  modern  instances,  from  the  date  of  the 
revival  of  art,  abound  in  every  form.  Almost 
every  painter  who  has  treated  subjects  from  the 
life  of  the  Virgin  has  treated  the  Visitation.  Id 
the  composition  by  Raphael  (Madrid  Gal.)  there 
are  the  two  figures  only ;  and  I  should  object  to 
this  otherwise  perfect  picture,  the  bashful  conscious 
look  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  The  heads  are,  however, 
eminently  beautiful  and  dignified.  In  the  far  back- 
ground is  seen  the  Baptism  of  Christ  —  very  hap- 
pily and  significantly  introduced,  not  merely  as  ex- 
pressing the  name  of  the  votary  who  dedicated  the 
picture,  Giovan-Battista  Branconio,  but  also  as  ex- 
pressing the  relation  between  the  two  unborn  Chil- 
dren —  the  Christ  and  his  Prophet. 

4.  The  group  by  Sebastian  del  Piombo  is  singu- 
larly grand,  showing  in  every  part  the  mfiuence  of 
Michael  Angelo,  but  richly  coloured  in  Sebastian's 
be«t  manner.  The  figures  are  seen  only  to  the 
knees.  In  the  background,  Zacharias  is  seen  hur- 
rying down  some  steps  to  receive  the  Virgin.* 

5.  The  group  by  Pinturicchio,  with  the  attend- 
ant angels,  is  remarkable  for  its  poetic  grace ;  and 
that  by  Lucas  v.  Leyden  is  equally  remarkable  for 
affectionate  sentiment. 

6.  Still  more  beautiful,  and  more  dramatic  and 
varied,  is  another  composition  by  Pinturicchio  in 

*  Lcuvre,  1224.  There  is,  in  the  Louyre  another  Visitation 
If  lingular  and  characl^ristic  beauty  hj  V  Ghirlandajo. 


508      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

ihe  Sala  Borgia.  (Vatican,  Rome.)  The  Vir^n 
and  St.  Elizabeth,  in  the  centre,  take  each  other's 
hands.  Behind  the  Virgin  is  St.  Joseph,  a  maiden 
with  a  basket  on  her  head,  and  other  attendants. 
Behind  St.  Elizabeth,  we  have  a  view  into  the  in- 
terior of  her  house,  through  arcades  richly  sculp- 
tured; and  within,  Zacharias  is  reading,  and  the 
handmaids  of  Elizabeth  are  spinning  and  sewing. 
This  elegant  fresco  was  painted  for  Alexander 
VI. 

7.  There  is  a  fine  picture  of  this  subject,  by  An- 
4rea  Sabattini  of  Salerno,  the  history  of  which  ia 
rather  curious.  "  It  was  painted  at  the  request  of 
the  Sanseverini,  princes  of  Salerno,  to  be  presented 
to  a  nunnery,  in  which  one  of  that  noble  family 
had  taken  the  veil.  Under  the  form  of  the  blessed 
Virgin,  Andrea  represented  the  last  princess  of 
Salerno,  who  was  of  the  family  of  Villa  Mari- 
na ;  under  that  of  St.  Joseph,  the  prince  her  hus- 
band ;  an  old  servant  of  the  family  figures  as  St. 
Elizabeth;  and  in  the  features  of  Zacharias  we 
recognize  those  of  Bernardo  Tasso,  the  father  of 
Torquato  Tasso,  and  then  secretary  to  the  prince 
of  Salerno.  After  remaining  for  many  years  over 
the  high  altar  of  the  church,  it  was  removed  through 
the  scruples  of  one  of  the  Neapolitan  archbishops, 
who  was  scandalized  by  the  impropriety  of  placing 
the  portraits  of  well-known  personages  in  such  a 
situation."  The  picture,  once  removed  from  it« 
place,  disappeared,  and  by  some  means  found  its 
way  to  the  Louvre.     Andrea,  who  was  one  of  tht 


THE    VISITATION.  HOB 

most  distinguished  of  the  scholars  of  Raphael,  died 
in  1545  * 

8,  The  composition  by  Rubens  has  all  that  scenic 
effect  and  dramatic  movement  which  was  charac- 
teristic of  the  painter.  The  meeting  takes  place 
on  a  flight  of  steps  leading  to  the  house  of  Zacha- 
nas.  The  Virgin  wears  a  hat,  as  one  just  arrived 
from  a  journey  ;  Joseph  and  Zacharias  greet  each 
other ;  a  maiden  with  a  basket  on  her  head  follows ; 
and  in  the  foreground  a  man  unloads  the  ass. 

I  will  mention  two  other  example,  each  perfect 
in  its  way,  in  two  most  opposite  styles  of  treat- 
ment. 

9.  The  first  is  the  simple  majestic  composition  of 
Albertinelli.  (Florence  Gal.)  The  two  women, 
standing  alone  under  a  richly  sculptured  arch,  and 
relieved  against  the  bright  azure  sky,  embrace 
each  other.  There  are  no  accessories.  Mary  is 
attired  in  dark-blue  drapery,  and  Elizabeth  wears 
an  ample  robe  of  a  saffron  or  rather  amber  colour. 
The  mingled  grandeur,  power,  and  grace,  and 
depth  of  expression  in  these  two  figures,  are  quite 
extraordinary ;  they  look  like  what  they  are,  and 
worthy  to  be  mothers  of  the  greatest  of  kings  and 
the  greatest  of  prophets.  Albertinelli  has  here 
emulated  his  friend  Bartolomeo  —  his  friend,  whom 
lie  so  loved,  that  when,  after  the  horrible  execution 
of  Savonarola,  Bartolomeo,  broken-hearted,  threw 
Wmself  into  the  convent  of  St.  Mark,  Albertinelli 

**  This  picture  is  thus  described  in  the  old  catalogues  of  thf 
louvre  (No.  1207) ;  but  is  not  to  be  found  in  that  of  YUIot 


510  LEGENDS    OF    THE   MADONNA. 

became  almost  distracted  and  desperate.  He  would 
certainly,  says  Vasari,  have  gone  into  the  same 
convent,  but  for  the  hatred  he  bore  the  monks,  "  of 
whom  he  was  always  saying  the  most  injurious 
things.'* 

Through  some  hidden  influence  of  intense  sym- 
pathy, Albertinelli,  though  in  point  of  character 
the  very  antipodes  of  his  friend,  often  painted  so 
like  him,  that  his  pictures  —  and  this  noble  picture 
more  particularly  —  might  be  mistaken  for  the  work 
of  the  Frate. 

10.  We  will  now  turn  to  a  conception  altogether 
different,  and  equally  a  masterpiece;  it  is  the 
small  but  exquisitely  finished  composition  by 
Rembrandt.  (Grosvenor  Gal.)  The  scene  is  the 
garden  in  front  of  the  house  of  Zacharias ;  Eliza- 
beth is  descending  the  steps  in  haste  to  receive  and 
embrace  with  outstretched  arms  the  Virgin  Mary, 
who  appears  to  have  just  alighted  from  her  journey. 
The  aged  Zacharias,  supported  by  a  youth,  is  seen 
following  Ehzabeth  to  welcome  their  guest.  Be- 
dind  Mary  stands  a  black  female  attendant,  in  the 
act  of  removing  a  mantle  from  her  shoulders ;  in 
the  background  a  servant,  or  (as  I  think)  Joseph, 
holds  the  ass  on  which  Mary  has  journeyed ;  a 
peacock  with  a  gem-like  train,  and  a  hen  with  a 
brood  of  chickens  (the  latter  the  emblem  of  mater- 
nity), are  in  the  foreground.  Though  the  repre- 
sentation thus  conceived  appears  like  a  scene  of 
every-day  life,  nothing  can  be  more  poetical  than 


THE    DBEAM    OP   JOSEPH.  811 

the  treatment,  more  intensely  true  and  noble  than 
the  expression  of  the  diminutive  figures,  more  mas- 
terly and  finished  than  the  execution,  more  magi- 
cal and  lustrous  than  the  effect  of  the  whole.  Th* 
work  of  Albertinelli,  in  its  large  and  solemn  beauty 
and  religious  significance,  is  worthy  of  being  placed 
over  an  altar,  on  which  we  might  offer  up  the  work 
of  Rembrandt  as  men  offer  incense,  gems,  and 
gold. 

As  the  Visitation  is  not  easily  mistaken,  I  have 
said  enough  of  it  here ;  and  we  pass  to  the  next 
subject,  —  The  Dream  of  Joseph. 


Although  the  feast  of  the  Visitation  is  fixed  for 
the  2d  of  July,  it  was,  and  is,  a  received  opinion, 
that  Mary  began  her  journey  to  the  hill  country 
but  a  short  time,  even  a  few  days,  after  the  An- 
nunciation of  the  angel.  It  was  the  sixth  month 
with  Elizabeth,  and  Mary  sojourned  with  her  three 
months.  Hence  it  is  supposed,  by  many  commen- 
tators, that  Mary  must  have  been  present  at  the 
birth  of  John  the  Baptist.  It  may  seem  surprising 
that  the  early  painters  should  not  have  made  use 
of  this  supposition.  I  am  not  aware  that  there 
exists  among  the  numerous  representations  of  the 
birth  of  St.  John,  any  instance  of  the  Virgin  being 
Introduced  ;  it  should  seem  that  the  lofty  ideas  en- 
tertained of  the  Mater  Dei  rendered  it  impossible 
to  place  her  in  a  scene  where  she  would  necessa* 
nly  *ake  a  subordinate  position :  this  I  think  suffi. 


J12  LEGENDS   OF   THE   MADONNA. 

ciently  accounts  for  her  absence.*  Mary  then 
returned  to  her  own  dwelling  at  Nazareth;  and 
when  Joseph  (who  in  these  legendary  stories  ia 
constantly  represented  as  a  house-carpenter  and 
builder,  and  travelling  about  to  exercise  his  trade 
in  various  places)  also  came  back  to  his  home,  and 
beheld  his  wife,  the  suspicion  entered  his  mind  that 
she  was  about  to  become  a  mother,  and  very  natu- 
rally his  mind  was  troubled  "  with  sorrow  and  inse- 
cure apprehensions ;  but  being  a  just  man,  that  is, 
according  to  the  Scriptures  and  other  wise  writers, 
a  good,  a  charitable  man,  he  would  not  openly  dis- 
grace her,  for  he  found  it  more  agreeable  to  justice 
to  treat  an  offending  person  with  the  easiest  sen- 
tence, than  to  render  her  desperate,  and  without 
remedy,  and  provoked  by  the  suffering  of  the  worst 
of  what  she  could  fear.  No  obhgation  to  justice 
can  force  a  man  to  be  cruel ;  pity,  and  forbearance, 
and  long-suffering,  and  fair  interpretation,  and 
excusing  our  brother"  (and  our  sister),  '*  and  tak- 
ing things  in  the  best  sense,  and  passing  the  gen- 
tlest sentence,  are  as  certainly  our  duty,  and  owing 
to  every  person  who  does  offend  and  can  repent, 
as  calling  men  to  account  can  be  owing  to  the 
law."  (v.  Bishop  Taylor's  Life  of  Christ.)  Thus 
says  the  good  Bishop  Taylor,  praising  Joseph,  that 
he  was  too  truly  just  to  call  furiously  for  justice, 

♦  There  is,  however,  in  the  Liverpool  Museum,  a  very  exqu 
site  miniature  of  the  birth  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  in  which  th* 
female  figure  standing  near  represents,  I  think,  the  Virgin  Mary 
It  WM  cut  out  of  a  choral  book  of  the  Siena  school. 


THE   DREAM   OF   JOSEPH.  81S 

ind  that,  waiving  the  killing  letter  of  the  law,  he 
was  "  minded  to  dismiss  his  wife  privily ; "  and  in 
this  he  emulated  the  mercy  of  his  divine  foster- 
Son,  who  did  not  cruelly  condemn  the  woman 
whom  he  knew  to  be  guilty,  but  dismissed  her  "  to 
repent  and  sin  no  more."  But  while  Joseph  was 
pondering  thus  in  his  heart,  the  angel  of  the  Lord, 
the  prince  of  angels,  even  Gabriel,  appeared  to 
him  in  a  dream,  saying,  "Joseph,  thou  son  of 
David,  fear  not  to  take  unto  thee  Mary  thy  wife  1 " 
and  he  awoke  and  obeyed  that  divine  voice. 

This  first  vision  of  the  angel  is  not  in  works 
of  art  easily  distinguished  from  the  second  vision 
but  there  is  a  charming  fresco  by  Luini,  which  can 
bear  no  other  interpretation.  Joseph  is  seated  by 
the  carpenter's  bench,  and  leans  his  head  on  his 
hand  slumbering.  (Milan,  Brera.)  An  angel 
stands  by  him  pointing  to  Mary  who  is  seen  at  a 
window  above,  busied  with  needlework. 

On  waking  from  this  vision,  Joseph,  says  the 
legend,  "  entreated  forgiveness  of  Mary  for  having 
wronged  her  even  in  thought."  This  is  a  subject 
quite  unknown,  I  believe,  before  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, and  not  commonly  met  with  since,  but  there 
are  some  instances.  On  one  of  the  carved  stalls 
of  the  Cathedral  of  Amiens  it  is  very  poetically 
treated.  (Stalles  d'Amiens,  p.  205.)  Mary  is 
seated  on  a  throne  under  a  magnificent  canopy 
Joseph,  kneeling  before  her  and  presented  by  two 
angels,  pleads  for  pardon.  She  extends  one  hand 
0  him  J  in  the  other  is  the  volume  of  the  Holy 


B14  LEGExVDS   OF   THE   MADONNA. 

Scriptures.  There  is  a  similar  version  of  the  UiX% 
m  sculpture  over  one  of  the  doors  of  Notre-Dame 
at  Paris.  There  is  also  a  picture  by  Alessandro 
Tiarini  (Le  repentir  de  Saint  Joseph,  Louvre,  416), 
and  reckoned  by  Malvasia  his  finest  work,  wherein 
Joseph  kneels  before  the  Virgin,  who  stands  with  a 
dignified  air,  and,  while  she  raises  him  with  one 
hand,  points  with  the  other  up  to  heaven.  Behind 
is  seen  the  angel  Gabriel  with  his  finger  on  his  lip, 
as  commanding  silence,  and  two  other  angels. 
*rhe  figures  are  life-size,  the  execution  and  colour 
very  fine ;  the  whole  conception  in  the  grand  but 
mannered  style  of  the  Guido  school. 


THE   NATIVITY. 

Hai,  n  Presepio.    II  Nascimento  del  Nostro  Signore.    Fr  1m 
Nativity.     Ger.  Die  Geburt  Christi.    Dec.  25. 

The  birth  of  our  Saviour  is  related  with  charac- 
teristic simplicity  and  brevity  in  the  Gospels ;  but 
in  the  early  Christian  traditions  this  great  event 
b  preceded  and  accompanied  by  several  circum- 
stances which  have  assumed  a  certain  importance 
and  interest  in  the  artistic  representations. 

According  to  an  ancient  legend,  the  Emperor 
Augustus  Caesar  repaired  to  the  sibyl  Tiburtina,  to 
inquire  whether  he  should  consent  to  allow  himself 
to  be  worshipped  with  divine  honours,  which  the 
Senate  had  decreed  to  him.  The  sibyl,  after  some 
days  of  meditation,  took  the  Emperor  apart,  an^ 


THE   NATIVITY.  —  THE   SIBYL.  81? 

ihowed  him  an  altar ;  and  above  the  altar,  in  the 
opening  heavens,  and  in  a  glory  of  light,  he  beheld 
a  beautiful  Virgin  holding  an  Infant  in  her  arms, 
and  at  the  same  time  a  voice  was  heard  saying, 
"  This  is  the  altar  of  the  Son  of  the  living  God ; " 
whereupon  Augustus  caused  an  altar  to  be  erected 
on  the  Capitoline  Hill,  with  this  inscription,  Ara 
primogeniti  Dei ;  and  on  the  same  spot,  in  later 
times,  was  built  the  church  called  the  Ara-Coeli, 
well  known,  with  its  flight  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty-four  marble  steps,  to  all  who  have  visited 
Rome. 

Of  the  sibyls,  generally,  in  their  relation  to 
saored  art,  I  have  already  spoken.*  This  particu- 
far  prophecy  of  the  Tiburtine  sibyl  to  Augustus 
rests  on  some  very  antique  traditions,  pagan  as 
well  as  Christian.  It  is  supposed  to  have  sug- 
gested the  "  Pollio  **  of  Virgil,  which  suggested  the 
"  Messiah  *'  of  Pope.  It  is  mentioned  by  writers 
of  the  third  and  fourth  centuries,  and  our  own  di- 
vines have  not  wholly  rejected  it,  for  Bishop  Tay- 
'or  mentions  the  sibyl's  prophecy  among  "the 
great  and  glorious  accidents  happening  about  the 
birth  of  Jesus."     (Life  of  Jesus  Christ,  sec.  4.) 

A  very  rude  but  curious  bas-relief  preserved  in 
the  church  of  the  Ara-Coeli  is  perhaps  the  oldest 
representation  extant.  The  Church  legend  assigns 
to  it  a  fabulous  antiquity;   but  it  must  be  older 

*  Introduction.  The  personal  character  and  history  of  the 
Mbyls  will  be  treated  in  detail  in  the  fourth  series  of  Sacred  ani 
fcej;endary  Art. 


116  LEGENDS   OF   THE   MADOaJWA. 

than  the  twelfth  century,  as  it  is  alluded  to  by 
writers  of  that  period.  Here  the  Emperor  Augus* 
his  kneels  before  the  Madonna  and  Child,  and  at 
his  side  is  the  sibyl,  Tiburtina,  pointing  upwards. 

Since  the  revival  of  art,  the  incident  has  been 
frequently  treated.  It  was  painted  by  Cavallini, 
about  1340,  on  the  vault  of  the  choir  of  the  Ara- 
CceH.  In  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries, 
it  became  a  favourite  subject.  It  admitted  of 
those  classical  forms,  and  that  mingling  of  the  hea- 
then and  the  Christian  in  style  and  costume,  which 
were  calculated  to  please  the  churchmen  and  ar- 
tists of  the  time,  and  the  examples  are  innumer- 
able. 

The  most  celebrated,  I  believe,  is  the  fresco  by 
Baldassare  Peruzzi,  in  which  the  figure  of  the  sibyl 
is  certainly  very  majestic,  but  the  rest  of  the  group 
utterly  vulgar  and  commonplace.  (Siena,  Fonte 
Giusta.)  L'ess  famous,  but  on  the  whole  prefer- 
able in  point  of  taste,  is  the  group  by  Garofalo,  in 
the  palace  of  the  Quirinal;  and  there  is  anothei 
by  Titian,  in  which  the  scene  is  laid  in  a  fine  land 
Bcape  after  his  manner.  Vasari  mentions  a  car- 
toon of  this  subject,  painted  by  Rosso  for  Francia 
I.,  "  among  the  best  things  Rosso  ever  produced,** 
and  introducing  the  King  and  Queen  of  France, 
their  guards,  and  a  concourse  of  people,  as  specta- 
tors of  the  scene.  In  some  instances  the  locality 
is  a  temple,  with  an  altar,  before  which  kneels  the 
Emperor,  having  laid  upon  it  his  sceptre  and  lauiei 
crown :  the  sibyl  points  to  the  vision  seen  through 


THE   NATIVITY.  817 

a  window  above.  I  think  it  is  so  lepresented  in 
a  large  picture  at  Hampton  Court,  by  Pietro  da 
Cortona. 

The  sibylline  prophecy  is  supposed  to  have  oc- 
curred a  short  time  before  the  Nativity,  about  the 
lame  period  when  the  decree  went  forth  "  that  all 
the  world  should  be  taxed."  Joseph,  therefore, 
arose  and  saddled  his  ass,  and  set  his  wife  upon  it, 
and  went  up  from  Nazareth  to  Bethlehem.  The 
way  was  long,  and  steep,  and  weary ;  "  and  when 
Joseph  looked  back,  he  saw  the  face  of  Mary  that 
it  was  sorrowful,  as  of  one  in  pain ;  but  when  he 
looked  back  again,  she  smiled.  And  when  they 
were  come  to  Bethlehem,  there  was  no  room  for 
them  in  the  inn,  because  of  the  great  concourse  of 
people.  And  Mary  said  to  Joseph,  "  Take  me 
down  for  I  suffer."     (Protevangelion.) 

The  journey  to  Bethlehem,  and  the  grief  and 
perplexity  of  Joseph,  have  been  often  represented. 
1.  There  exists  a  very  ancient  Greek  carving  in 
ivory,  wherein  Mary  is  seated  on  the  ass,  with  an 
expression  of  suffering,  and  Joseph  tenderly  sus- 
tains her ;  she  has  one  arm  round  his  neck,  lean- 
ing on  him:  an  angel  leads  the  ass,  lighting  the 
way  with  a  torch.  It  is  supposed  that  this  curious 
relic  formed  part  of  the  ornaments  of  the  ivory 
throne  of  the  Exarch  of  Ravenna,  and  that  it  is»  at 
least  as  old  as  the  sixth  century.*     2.  There  is  an 

*  It  is  engraved  in  Ck>ri's  ^^  Thesaurus,"  and  described  fai 
Hunter's  "  Sinnbilder." 

21 


518  LEGENDS   OP   THE   MADONNA. 

instance  more  dramatic  in  an  engraving  after  a 
master  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Mary,  seated 
on  the  ass,  and  holding  the  bridle,  raises  her  eyes 
to  heaven  with  an  expression  of  resignation ;  Jo- 
seph, cap  in  hand,  hmnbly  expostulates  with  the 
master  of  the  inn,  who  points  towards  the  stable ; 
the  innkeeper's  wife  looks  up  at  the  Virgin  with  a 
strong  expression  of  pity  and  sympathy.  3.  I  re- 
member another  print  of  the  same  subject,  where, 
in  the  background,  angels  are  seen  preparing  the 
cradle  in  a  cave. 

I  may  as  well  add  that  the  Virgin,  in  this  char- 
acter of  mysterious,  and  religious,  and  most  pure 
maternity,  is  venerated  under  the  title  of  La  Mo" 
donna  del  Parte* 


*  Every  one  who  has  visited  Naples  will  remember  the  chnrch 
on  the  Mergellina,  dedicated  to  the  Madonna  del  Farto^  where 
lies,  beneath  his  pagan  tomb,  the  poet  Sannazzaro.  Mr.  Hallam, 
In  a  beautiful  passage  of  his  "  History  of  the  Literature  of  Eu- 
rope," has  pointed  out  the  influence  of  the  genius  of  Tasso  on 
the  whole  school  of  Bolognese  painters  of  that  time.  Not 
less  striking  was  the  influence  of  Sannazzaro  and  his  famoui 
poem  on  the  Nativity  (De  PartH  Virginis),  on  the  contemporary 
productions  of  Italian  art,  and  more  particularly  as  regards  the 
subject  under  consideration:  I  can  trace  it  through  all  the 
schools  of  art,  from  Milan  to  Naples,  during  the  latter  half  of 
the  sixteenth  century.  Of  Sannazzaro's  poem,  Mr.  Hallam  says, 
that  "  it  would  be  difllcult  to  find  its  equal  for  purity,  elegance, 
fcnd  harmony  of  versification."  It  is  not  the  less  true,  that 
even  its  greatest  merits  as  a  Latin  poem  exercised  the  most  per* 
verse  influence  on  the  religious  art  of  that  period.  It  was,  in- 
deed, only  one  of  the  many  influences  which  may  be  said  t% 
Have  deDioralized  the  artists  of  the  sixteenth  centurj,  but  tt 
WW  one  of  the  greatest. 


THE  NATIVITY  AS   A  MYSTERY.  319 

The  Nativity  of  our  Saviour,  like  the  Annunci- 
ation, has  been  treated  in  two  ways,  as  a  mystery 
and  as  an  event,  and  we  must  be  careful  to  di»- 
criminate  between  them. 


THE  NATIVITY  AS  A  MYSTERY. 

In  the  first  sense  the  artist  has  intended  simply 
to  express  the  advent  of  the  Divinity  on  earth  in 
the  form  of  an  Infant,  and  the  motif  is  clearly 
taken  from  a  text  in  the  Office  of  the  Virgin, 
Virgo  quern  genuit^  adoraviU  In  the  beautiful 
words  of  Jeremy  Taylor,  "  She  blessed  him,  she 
worshipped  him,  and  she  thanked  him  that  he 
would  be  born  of  her  ; "  as,  indeed,  many  a  young 
mother  has  done  before  and  since,  when  she  has 
hung  in  adoration  over  the  cradle  of  her  first-bom 
child ;  —  but  here  the  child  was  to  be  a  descended 
God ;  and  nothing,  as  it  seems  to  me,  can  be  more 
graceful  and  more  profoundly  suggestive  than  the 
manner  in  which  some  of  the  early  Italian  artists 
have  expressed  this  idea.  When,  in  such  pictures, 
the  locality  is  marked  by  the  poor  stable,  or  the 
rough  rocky  cave,  it  becomes  "a  temple  full  of 
religion,  full  of  glory,  where  angels  are  the  minis- 
ters, the  holy  Virgin  the  worshipper,  and  Christ 
the  Deity."  Very  few  accessories  are  admitted, 
merely  such  as  serve  to  denote  that  the  subject  is 
•*a  Nativity,"  properly  so  called,  and  not  the 
*Madre  Pia,"  as  already  Jescribed. 


S20      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

The  divine  Infant  lies  in  the  centre  of  the  pic- 
ture, sometimes  on  a  white  napkin,  sometimes  with 
no  other  bed  than  the  flowery  turf;  sometimes  his 
head  rests  on  a  wheat-sheaf,  always  here  inter- 
preted as  "  the  bread  of  life.**  He  places  his  fin- 
ger on  his  lip,  which  expresses  the  Verbum  sum 
(or,  Vere  Verbum  hoc  est  abbreviatuni),  "  I  am  the 
word/*  or  *'  I  am  the  bread  of  life  "  C^go  sum  pants 
ills  vitce,  John  vi.  48),  and  fixes  his  eyes  on  the 
heavens  above,  where  the  angels  are  singing  the 
Gloria  in  excelsis.  In  one  instance,  I  remember 
an  angel  holds  up  the  cross  before  him;  in  an- 
other, he  grasps  it  in  his  hand ;  or  it  is  a  nail,  or 
the  crown  of  thorns,  anticipative  of  his  earthly 
destiny.  The  Virgin  kneels  on  one  side ;  St  Jo- 
seph, when  introduced,  kneels  on  the  other ;  and 
frequently  angels  unite  with  them  in  the  act  of 
adoration,  or  sustain  the  new-born  Child.  In  this 
poetical  version  of  the  subject,  Lorenzo  di  Credi, 
Perugino,  Francia,  and  Bellini,  excelled  all  oth- 
ers.* Lorenzo,  in  particular,  became  quite  re- 
iDwned  for  the  manner  in  which  he  treated  it,  and 
a  number  of  beautiful  compositions  from  his  hand 
exist  in  the  Florentine  and  other  galleries. 

There  are  instances  in  which  attendant  saints 
and  votaries  are  introduced  as  beholding  and  adoi^ 
ing  this  great  mystery.  1.  For  instance,  in  a  pic- 
ture by  Cima,  Tobit  and  the  angel  are  introduced 

*  There  are  also  most  charming  examples  in  sculpture  hf 
Lnca  della  Kobbia,  Donatello,  and  other  masters  of  the  Floiviilliit 


THE   NATIVITY   AS   A   MYSTERY.  32l 

Dn  one  side,  and  St.  Helena  and  St.  Catherine  on 
the  other.  2.  In  a  picture  by  Francia  (Bologna 
Gal.),  the  Infant,  reclining  upon  a  white  napkin, 
IS  adored  by  the  kneeling  Virgin,  by  St.  Augustine, 
and  by  two  angels  also  kneeling.  The  votary, 
Antonio  Galeazzo  Bentivoglio,  for  whom  the  pic- 
ture was  painted,  kneels  in  the  habit  of  a  pilgrim.* 
He  had  lately  returned  from  a  pilgrimage  to  Jerii- 
Balem  and  Bethlehem,  thus  poetically  expressed  ia 
the  scene  of  the  Nativity,  and  the  picture  was  ded- 
icated as  an  act  of  thanksgiving  as  well  as  of  faith. 
St.  Joseph  and  St.  Francis  stand  on  one  side ;  on 
the  other  is  a  shepherd  crowned  with  laurel. 
Francia,  according  to  tradition,  painted  his  own 
portrait  as  St.  Francis;  and  his  friend  the  poet, 
Girolamo  Casio  de'  Medici,  as  the  shepherd.  3.  In 
a  l2irge  and  famous  Nativity  by  Giulio  Romano 
(Louvre,  293),  which  once  belonged  to  our  Charles 
I.,  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  and  St.  Longinus  (who 
pierced  our  Saviour's  side  with  his  lance),  are 
standing  on  each  side  as  two  witnesses  to  the 
divinity  of  Christ ;  —  here  strangely  enough  placed 
on  a  par ;  but  we  are  reminded  that  Longinus  had 
lately  been  inaugurated  as  patron  of  Mantua,  (v. 
Sacred  and  Legendary  Art.) 
In  a  triptych  bj   Hans  Hemling  (Berlin  GaL) 

*  "  An  excellent  Jkeness,"  says  Vasari.  It  is  engraved  m 
lueh  in  Litta's  Memorials  of  the  Bentivogli.  Girolamo  Casio 
ceceived  the.  laurel  crown  from  the  hand  of  Clement  VII.  in 
,623.  A  beautiful  votive  Madonna,  dedicated  by  Girolamo  Casio 
»nd  his  son  Giacomo,  and  painted  by  Beltrafflo,  is  in  the  Louvre 


522  LEGENDS   OF   THE   MADONNA. 

we  have  In  the  centre  the  Child,  adored,  as  usual, 
by  the  Virgin  mother  and  attending  angels,  the 
votary  also  kneeling :  in  the  compartment  on  the 
right,  we  find  the  manifestation  of  the  Redeemer 
to  the  west  exhibited  in  the  prophecy  of  the  sibyl 
to  Augustus ;  on  the  left,  the  manifestation  of  the 
Redeemer  to  the  east  is  expressed  by  the  journey 
of  the  Magi,  and  the  miraculous  star  —  "  we  have 
seen  his  star  in  the  east.** 

But  of  all  these  ideal  Nativities,  the  most  striking 
is  one  by  Sandro  Botticelli,  which  is  indeed  a  com- 
prehensive poem,  a  kind  of  hymn  on  the  Nativity, 
and  might  be  set  to  music.  In  the  centre  is  a  shed, 
beneath  which  the  Virgin,  kneeling,  adores  the 
Child,  who  has  his  finger  on  his  lip.  Joseph  is 
seen  a  little  behind,  as  if  in  meditation.  On  the 
right  hand,  the  angel  presents  three  figures  (proba- 
bly the  shepherds)  crowned  with  olive ;  on  the  left 
is  a  similar  group.  On  the  roof  of  the  shed,  three 
angels,  with  olive-branches  in  their  hands,  sing  the 
Gloria  in  excelsis.  Above  these  are  twelve  angels 
dancing  or  floating  round  in  a  circle,  holding  olive- 
branches  between  them.  In  the  foreground,  in  the 
margin  of  the  picture,  three  figures  rising  out  of  the 
flames  of  purgatory  are  received  and  embraced  by 
angels.  With  all  its  quaint  fantastic  grace  and  dry- 
ness of  execution,  the  whole  conception  is  full  of 
tieaning,  religious  as  well  as  poetical.  The  intro- 
duction of  the  olive,  and  the  redeemed .  souls,  may 
express  "  peace  on  earth,  good  will  towards  men  ; 
•r  ihe  olive  may  likewise  refer  to  that  period  0/ 


THE   NATIVITY   AS   AN   ETENT.  82S 

imversal  peace  in  which  the  Prince  of  Peace  was 
bom  into  the  world.* 

I  must  mention  one  more  instance  for  its  extreme 
beauty.  In  a  picture  by  Lorenzo  di  Credi  (Flor- 
ence, ?al.  Pitti)  the  Infant  Christ  lies  on  the 
ground  on  a  part  of  the  veil  of  the  Virgin,  and 
holds  in  his  hand  a  bird.  In  the  background,  the 
miraculous  star  sheds  on  the  earth  a  perpendicular 
blaze  of  light,  and  farther  off  are  the  shepherds. 
On  the  other  side,  St.  Jerome,  introduced,  perhaps, 
because  he  made  his  abode  at  Bethlehem,  is  seated 
beside  his  lion. 


THE  NATIVITY  AS  AN  EVENT. 

We  now  come  to  the  Nativity  historically  treated, 
in  which  time,  place,  and  circumstance,  have  to  be 
considered  as  in  any  other  actual  event. 

The  time  was  the  depth  of  winter,  at  midnight ; 
the  place  a  poor  stable.  According  to  some  author- 
ities, this  stable  was  the  interior  of  a  cavern,  still 
shown  at  Bethlehem  as  the  scene  of  the  Nativity 
in  front  of  which  was  a  ruined  house,  once  inhab- 
ited by  Jesse,  the  father  of  David,  and  near  the 
ipot  where  David  pastured  his  sheep:  but  the 
house  was  now  a  shed  partly  thatched,  and  open 

•  This  singular  picture,  iDrmerly  in  the  Ottley  collection,  "»wm% 
l^en  I  saw  it,  ta  the  possession  of  Mr  Fuller  Maitland,  of  Stu^ 
mdPark. 


524  LEGENDS   OF   THE   MADONNA. 

Rt  that  bitter  i^ason  to  all  the  winds  of  heayen, 
Here  it  was  that  the  Blessed  Virgin  "  brought 
forth  her  first-born  Son,  wrapped  him  in  swad- 
dling clothes,  and  laid  him  in  a  manger." 

We  find  in  the  early  Greek  representations,  and 
in  the  early  Italian  painters  who  imitated  the  By- 
zantine models,  that  in  the  arrangement  a  certain 
pattern  was  followed :  the  locality  is  a  sort  of  cave 
— literally  a  hole  in  a  rock;  the  Virgin  Mother 
reclines  on  a  couch ;  near  her  lies  the  new-bom 
Infant  wrapped  in  swaddling  clothes.  In  one  very 
ancient  example  (a  miniature  of  the  ninth  century 
in  a  Greek  Menologium),  ap  attendant  is  washing 
the  Child. 

But  from  the  fourteenth  century  we  find  this 
treatment  discontinued.  It  gave  just  offence.  The 
greatest  theologians  insisted  that  the  birth  of  the 
Infant  Christ  was  as  pure  and  miraculous  as  hia 
conception:  and  it  was  considered  little  less  than 
heretical  to  portray  Mary  reclining  on  a  couch  as 
one  exhausted  by  the  pangs  of  childbirth  (Isaiah 
Ixvi.  7),  or  to  exhibit  assistants  as  washing  the 
heavenly  Infant.  "  To  her  alone,"  says  St.  Ber- 
nard, "did  not  the  punishment  of  Eve  extend/' 
"  Not  in  sorrow,"  says  Bishop  Taylor,  "  not  in  pain; 
but  in  the  posture  and  guise  of  worshippers  (that 
fe,  kneeling),  and  in  the  midst  of  glorious  thoughts 
and  speculations,  did  Mary  bring  her  Son  into  th« 
world." 

TVe  must  seek  for  the  accessories  and  circum 
Mances  usuaJy  introduced  by  the  painters  in  th« 


THE   NATIVITY    AS    AN   EVENT.  929 

•Id  legendary  traditions  then  accepted  and  be- 
lieved. (Protevaagelion,  xiv.)  Thus  one  legend 
relates  that  Joseph  went  to  seek  a  midwife,  and 
met  a  woman  coming  down  from  the  mountains, 
with  whom  he  returned  to  the  stable.  But  when 
they  entered  it  was  filled  with  light  greater  than 
the  sun  at  noonday;  and  as  the  light  decreased 
and  they  were  able  to  open  their  eyes,  they  be- 
neld  Mary  sitting  there  with  her  Infant  at  her 
Dosom.  And  the  Hebrew  woman  being  amazed 
Baid, "  Can  this  be  true  ?  "  and  Mary  answered,  "  It 
is  true ;  as  there  is  no  child  like  unto  my  son,  so 
there  is  no  woman  like  unto  his  mother." 

These  circumstances  we  find  in  some  of  the  early 
representations,  more  or  less  modified  by  the  taste 
of  the  artist.  I  have  seen,  for  instance,  an  old 
German  print,  in  which  the  Virgin  "  in  the  posture 
and  guise  of  worshippers,"  kneels  before  her  Child 
as  usual;  while  the  background  exhibits  a  hilly 
country,  and  Joseph  with  a  lantern  in  his  hand 
is  helping  a  woman  over  a  stile.  Sometimes  there 
are  two  women,  and  then  the  second  is  always 
Mary  Salome,  who,  according  to  a  passage  in  the 
same  popular  authority,  visited  the  mother  in  her 
bour  of  travail. 

The  angelic  choristers  m  the  sky,  or  upon  the  roof 
of  the  stable,  sing  the  Gloria  m  excelsis  Deo  ;  they 
are  never,  I  believe,  omitted,  and  in  early  pictures 
are  always  three  m  number ;  but  in  later  pictures, 
liie  mystic   three  become  a  chorus  of  musicians 


826  LEGENDS   OF   THE   MADONNA. 

Joseph  is  generally  sitting  by,  leaning  on  his  staff 
in  profound  meditation,  or  asleep  as  one  overcome 
by  fatigue  ;  or  with  a  taper  or  a  lantern  in  his  hand, 
to  express  the  night-time. 

Among  the  accessories,  the  ox  and  the  ass  are 
indispensable.  The  introduction  of  these  animals 
rests  on  an  antique  tradition  mentioned  by  St 
Jerome,  and  also  on  two  texts  of  prophecy :  "  The 
ox  knoweth  his  owner,  and  the  ass  his  master's 
crib "  (Isaiah  i.  3) ;  and  Habakkuk  iii.  4,  is  ren- 
dered in  the  Vulgate,  "  He  shall  lie  down  between 
the  ox  and  the  ass."  From  the  sixth  century, 
which  is  the  supposed  date  of  the  earliest  extant, 
to  the  sixteenth  century,  there  was  never  any  rep- 
resentation of  the  Nativity  without  these  two  ani- 
mals; thus  in  the  old  carol  so  often  quoted  — 

"  Agnovit  bos  et  asinns 
Quod  Puer  erat  Dominus  I  *' 

Jn  some  of  the  earliest  pictures  the  animal? 
kneel,  "  confessing  the  Lord."  (Isaiah  xliii.  20.) 
In  some  instances  they  stare  into  the  manger  with 
a  most  naive  expression  of  amazement  at  what  they 
find  there.  One  of  the  old  Latin  hymns,  De  Na 
tivitate  Domini,  describes  them,  in  that  wintry  night 
as  warming  the  new-bom  Infant  with  their  breath 
and  they  have  always  been  interpreted  as  symbols, 
the  ox  as  emblem  of  the  Jews,  the  ass  of  the  Gren 
tiles. 

I  wonder  if  it  has  ever  occurred  to  those  who 
have  studied  the  inner  life  and  meaning  of  these 


THE   NATIVITY   AS   AN   EVENT.  S21 

Did  representations,  —  owed  to  them,  perhaps, 
homilies  of  wisdom,  as  well  as  visions  of  poetry, 
—  that  the  introduction  of  the  ox  and  the  ass, 
those  symbols  of  animal  servitude  and  inferiority, 
might  be  otherwise  translated ;  —  that  their  pathetic 
dumb  recognition  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world  might 
be  interpreted  as  extending  to  them  also  a  partici- 
pation in  his  mission  of  love  and  mercy  ;  —  that 
since  to  the  lower  creatures  it  was  not  denied  to 
be  present  at  that  great  manifestation,  they  are  thus 
brought  nearer  to  the  sympathies  of  our  humanity, 
as  we  are,  thereby,  lifted  to  a  nearer  communion 
with  the  universal  spirit  of  love ;  —  but  this  is 
"  considering  too  deeply,"  perhaps,  for  the  occa- 
sion. Return  we  to  our  pictures.  Certainly  we 
are  not  in  danger  of  being  led  into  any  profound 
or  fanciful  speculations  by  the  ignorant  painters 
of  the  later  schools  of  art.  In  their  "  Nativities,** 
the  ox  and  ass  are  not,  indeed,  omitted ;  they  must 
be  present  by  religious  and  prescriptive  usage ;  but 
they  are  to  be  made  picturesque,  as  if  they  were 
m  the  stable  by  right,  and  as  if  it  were  only  a  sta- 
ble- not  a  temple  hallowed  to  a  diviner  significance. 
The  2iss,  instead  of  looking  devoutly  into  the  cra- 
dle, sti'etches  out  his  lazy  length  in  the  foreground ; 
the  ox  winks  his  eyes  with  a  more  than  bovine 
stupidity.  In  some  of  the  old  German  pictures, 
while  the  Hebrew  ox  is  qwietly  chewing  the  cud, 
Ihe  Gentile  ass  "  lifts  up  his  voice  **  and  brays 
with  open  mouth,  as  if  in  triumph. 
One  version  of  this  subject,  by  Agnolo  Gaddi,  is 


828      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

conceived  with  much  simplicity  and  originahty 
The  Virgin  and  Joseph  are  seen  together  within 
B  rude  and  otherwise  solitary  building.  She  points 
expressively  to  the  manger  where  lies  the  divine 
Infant,  while  Joseph  leans  on  his  staff  and  appeara 
lost  in  thought. 

Correggio  has  been  much  admired  for  represent- 
ing in  his  famous  Nativity  the  whole  picture  as 
lighted  by  the  glory  which  proceeds  from  the 
divine  Infant,  as  if  the  idea  had  been  new  and 
originaL  ("  La  Nottey**  Dresden  Gal.)  It  occurs 
frequently  before  and  since  his  time,  and  is  founded 
on  the  legendary  story  quoted  above,  which  de- 
scribes the  cave  or  stable  filled  with  a  dazzling  and 
supernatural  light. 

It  is  not  often  we  find  the  Nativity  represented 
as  an  historical  event  without  the  presence  of  the 
shepherds  ;  nor  is  the  supernatural  announcement 
to  the  shepherds  often  treated  as  a  separate  sub- 
ject :  it  generally  forms  part  of  the  background  of 
the  Nativity;  but  there  are  some  striking  exam- 
ples. 

In  a  print  by  Kembrandt,  he  has  emulated,  in 
picturesque  and  poetical  treatment,  his  famous  Vis- 
ion of  Jacob,  in  the  Dulwich  Gallery.  The  angei 
(always  supposed  to  be  Gabriel)  appears  in  a  burst 
of  radiance  through  the  black  wintry  midnight,  sur» 
rounded  by  a  multitude  of  the  heavenly  host.  The 
•hepherds  fall  prostrate,  as  men  amazed  and  "  sori 
ifraid;"  the  cattle  flee  different  ways  in  terror 


THE   ADORATION   OF    THE   SHEPHERDS.     82J 

(Luke  il.  9.)  I  do  not  say  that  this  is  the  most 
elevated  way  of  expressing  the  scene ;  but,  as  an 
example  of  characteristic  style,  it  is  perfect. 


THE  ADORATION  OF  THE  SHEPHERDS. 

IM,  L'  Adorazione  dei  Pastori.    Fr.  L'Adoration  des  Bergen 
Ger.  Die  Anbetung  der  Hirten. 

The  story  thus  proceeds:  —  When  the  angeli 
were  gone  away  into  heaven,  the  shepherds  came 
with  haste,  "  and  found  Mary,  and  Joseph,  and  the 
young  Child  lying  in  a  manger." 

Being  come,  they  present  their  pastoral  offerings 
■ —  a  lamb,  or  doves,  or  fruits  (but  these,  consider- 
ing the  season,  are  misplaced)  ;  they  take  off  their 
hats  with  reverence,  and  worship  in  rustic  fashion. 
In  Raphael's  composition,  the  shepherds,  as  we 
might  expect  from  him,  look  as  if  they  had  lived  in 
Arcadia.  In  some  of  the  later  Italian  pictures, 
they  pipe  and  sing.  It  is  the  well-known  custom 
in  Italy  for  the  shepherds  of  the  Campagna,  and 
of  Calabria,  to  pipe  before  the  Madonna  and  Child 
at  Christmas  time ;  and  these  Piffereri,  with  their 
sheepskin  jackets,  ragged  hats,  bagpipes,  and  ta- 
bors, were  evidently  the  models  reproduced  in 
•ome  of  the  finest  pictures  of  the  Bolognese  school ; 
^r  instance,  in  the  famous  Nativity  by  Annibale 
Caracci,  where  a  picturesque  figure  in  the  corner 
(Ts  blowing  into  the  bagpipes  with  might  and  main. 
In  the  Venetian  pictures  of  Ihe  Nativity,  the  shep« 


530      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

herd&  are  accompanied  by  their  women,  their  sheep, 
and  even  their  dogs.  According  to  an  old  legend, 
Simon  and  Jude,  afterwards  apostles,  were  among 
these  shepherds. 

When  the  angels  scatter  flowers,  as  in  composi- 
dons  by  Raphael  and  Ludovico  Caracci,  we  must 
suppose  that  they  were  not  gathered  on  earth,  but  in 
heaven. 

The  Infant  is  sometimes  asleep :  —  so  Milton 
rings  — 

"  But  see  the  Virgm  blest 
Hath  laid  her  Babe  to  rest! " 

In  a  drawing  by  Raphael,  the  Child  sliunbers,  and 
Joseph  raises  the  coverlid,  to  show  him  to  a  shep- 
herd. We  have  the  same  idea  in  several  other  in- 
stances. In  a  graceful  composition  by  Titian,  it  ia 
the  Virgin  Mother  who  raises  the  veil  from  the  face 
of  the  sleeping  Child. 

From  the  number  of  figures  and  accessories,  the 
Nativity  thus  treated  as  an  historical  subject  be- 
comes capable  of  almost  endless  variety ;  but  as  it 
b  one  not  to  be  mistaken,  and  has  a  universal 
meaning  and  interest,  I  may  now  leave  it  to  tb« 
fimcy  and  discrimination  of  the  observer. 


THE  ADORATION  OF   THE  MAGI.  88J 


THE  ADORATION  OF  THE  MAGI. 

fUU.  L'  Adorazione  de»  Magi.  L'  Epifonia.  Fr.  L' Adoration  del 
Rds  Mages.  Ger.  Die  Anbetung  der  Weisen  aus  dem  Morgen- 
land.    Die  lieiligeu  drei  Ebnige.    Jan.  6. 

This,  the  most  extraordinary  incident  in  the 
early  life  of  our  Saviour,  rests  on  the  authority  of 
one  evangelist  only.  It  is  related  by  St.  Matthew 
BO  briefly,  as  to  present  many  historical  and  philo- 
sophical difficulties.  I  must  give  some  idea  of  the 
manner  in  which  these  difficulties  were  elucidated 
by  the  early  commentators,  and  of  the  notions 
which  prevailed  in  the  middle  ages  relative  to  the 
country  of  the  Three  Kings,  before  it  will  be  pos- 
sible to  understand  or  to  appreciate  the  subject  as 
it  has  been  set  before  us  in  every  style  of  art,  in 
every  form,  in  every  material,  from  the  third  cen- 
tury to  the  present  time. 

In  the  first  place,  who  were  these  Magi,  or  these 
kings,  as  they  are  sometimes  styled  ?  "  To  sup- 
pose," says  the  antique  legend,  "that  they  were 
called  Magi  because  they  were  addicted  to  magic, 
or  exercised  unholy  or  forbidden  arts,  would  be, 
heaven  save  us!  a  rank  heresy.*'  No!  Magi,  in 
the  Persian  tongue,  signifies  "  wise  men."  They 
were,  in  their  own  country,  kings  or  princes,  as  it  ia . 
averred  by  all  the  ancient  fathers  ;  and  we  are  not 
to  be  oiOfended  at  the  assertion,  that  they  were  at 
ycLCG  princes  and  wise  men,  —  "  Car  k  I'usage  de 


582  LEGENDS   OF    THE   MADONNA. 

ee  temps-Ik  les  princes  et  les  rois  etoienf  trfes 
lages ! "  * 

They  came  from  the  eastern  country,  but  from 
what  country  is  not  said  ;  whether  from  the  land  ol 
the  Arabians,  or  the  Chaldeans,  or  the  Persians,  or 
the  Parthian  s. 

It  is  written  in  the  Book  of  Numbers,  that  when 
Balaam,  the  son  of  Beor,  was  called  upon  to  curse 
the  children  of  Israel,  he,  by  divine  inspiration,  ut- 
tered a  blessing  instead  of  a  curse.  And  he  took 
up  this  parable,  and  said,  "  I  shall  see  him,  but  not 
now ;  I  shall  behold  him,  but  not  nigh  :  there  shall 
come  a  star  out  of  Jacob,  and  a  sceptre  shall  rise  out 
of  Israel.**  And  the  people  of  that  country,  though 
they  were  Gentiles,  kept  this 'prophecy  as  a  tradi- 
tion among  them,  and  waited  with  faith  and  hope 
for  its  fulfilment.  When,  therefore,  their  princes 
and  wise  men  beheld  a  star  different  in  its  appear- 
ance and  movement  from  those  which  they  had  been 
iccustomed  to  study  (for  they  were  great  astrono- 
mers), they  at  once  knew  its  import,  and  hastened 
to  follow  its  guidance.  According  to  an  ancient 
commentary  on  St.  Matthew,  this  star,  on  its  first 
appearance,  had  the  form  of  a  radiant  child  bear- 
ing a  sceptre  or  cross.  In  a  fresco  by  Taddeo 
Gaddi,  it  is  thus  figured ;  and  this  is  the  only  in- 
stance I  can  remember.  But  to  proceed  with  our 
Btory. 

When   the  eastern  sages  beheld  this  wondrous 

*  Quoted  literaUy  from  the  legend  in  the  3ld  French  yexaioi 
tf  the  Fios  Sanctorum. 


THE   ADORATION    OF    THE    MAGI.  385 

wid  long-expected  star,  they  rejoiced  greatly  ;  and 
fchey  arose,  and  taking  leave  of  their  lands  and  their 
vassals,  their  relations  and  their  friends,  set  forth 
on  their  long  and  perilous  journey  across  vast  des- 
erts and  mountains,  and  broad  rivers,  the  star  go- 
ing before  them,  and  arrived  at  length  at  Jerusa- 
lem, with  a  great  and  splendid  train  of  attendants. 
Being  come  there,  they  asked  at  once,  "  Where  if 
he  who  is  born  king  of  the  Jews  ?  "  On  hearing 
this  question.  King  Herod  was  troubled,  and  all  the 
city  with  him ;  and  he  inquired  of  the  chief  priesta 
where  Christ  should  be  born.  And  they  said  to 
him,  "  in  Bethlehem  of  Judea."  Then  Herod  pri- 
vately called  the  wise  men,  and  desired  they  would 
go  to  Bethlehem,  and  search  for  the  young  child 
(he  was  careful  not  to  call  him  King)^  saying, 
"  When  ye  have  found  him,  bring  me  word,  that  I 
may  come  and  worship  him  also."  So  the  Magi 
departed,  and  the  star  which  they  had  seen  in  the 
east  went  before  them,  until  it  stood  over  the  place 
where  the  young  child  was  —  he  who  was  bora 
King  of  kings.  They  had  travelled  many  a  long 
and  weary  mile  ;  "  and  what  had  they  come  for  to 
Bee  ?  "  Instead  of  a  sumptuous  palace,  a  mean  and 
lowly  dwelling ;  in  place  of  a  monarch  surrounded 
by  his  guards  and  ministers  and  all  the  terrors  of 
his  state,  an  infant  wrapped  in  swaddling  clothes 
and  laid  upon  his  mother's  knee,  between  the  o:x 
and  the  ass.  They  had  come,  perhaps,  from  some 
far-distant  savage  land,  or  from  some  nation  calling 
Itself  civilized,  where  innc  'ence  had  never  been  ao 
22 


184  LEGENDS   OF   THE   MADONNA. 

counted  sacred,  where  society  had  as  yet  taken  no 
heed  of  the  defenceless  woman,  no  care  for  the 
helpless  child  ;  where  the  one  was  enslaved,  and  the 
other  perverted :  and  here,  under  the  form  of  wom- 
anhood and  childhood,  they  were  called  upon  to 
worship  the  promise  of  that  brighter  future,  when 
peace  should  inherit  the  earth,  and  righteousnesfl 
prevail  over  deceit,  and  gentleness  with  wisdom 
reign  for  ever  and  ever !  How  must  they  have 
been  amazed  I  how  must  they  have  wondered  in 
their  souls  at  such  a  revelation  !  —  yet  such  was  the 
faith  of  these  wise  men  and  excellent  kings,  that 
they  at  once  prostrated  themselves,  confessing  in 
the  glorious  Innocent  who  smiled  upon  them  from 
his  mother's  knee,  a  greater  than  themselves  —  the 
image  of  a  truer  divinity  than  they  had  ever  yet 
acknowledged.  And  having  bowed  themselves 
down — first,  as  was  most  fit,  offering  themselves, 
—  they  made  offering  of  their  treasure,  as  it  had 
been  written  in  ancient  times,  "  The  kings  of  Tar- 
shish  and  the  isles  shall  bring  presents,  and  the 
kings  of  Sheba  shall  offer  gifts."  And  what  were 
these  gifts?  Gold,  frankincense,  and  myrrh;  by 
which  symbolical  oblation  they  protested  a  three- 
fold faith;  —  by  gold,  that  he  was  king;  by  in- 
cense, that  he  was  God;  by  myrrh,  that  he  was 
man,  and  doomed  to  death.  In  return  for  their 
gifts,  the  Saviour  bestowed  upon  them  others  of 
more  matchless  price.  For  their  gold  he  gave  thenj 
charity  and  spiritual  riches ;  for  their  incense,  per 
(uct  faith  •,  and  for  their  myrrh,  perfect  truth  aod 


THE   ADORATION   OF    THE   MAGI.  335 

meekness :  and  the  Virgin,  his  mother,  also  be- 
itowed  on  them  a  precious  gift  and  memorial,  name- 
ly, one  of  those  linen  bands  in  which  she  had 
wrapped  the  Saviour,  for  which  they  thanked  her 
with  great  humility,  and  laid  it  up  amongst  their 
treasures.  When  they  had  performed  their  devo- 
tions and  made  their  offerings,  being  warned  in  a 
dream  to  avoid  Herod,  they  turned  back  again  to 
their  own  dominions ;  and  the  star  which  had  for- 
merly guided  them  to  the  west,  now  went  before 
them  towards  the  east,  and  led  them  safely  home. 
When  they  were  arrived  there,  they  laid  down  their 
earthly  state  ;  and  in  emulation  of  the  poverty  and 
humility  in  which  they  had  found  the  Lord  of  all 
power  and  might,  they  distributed  their  goods  and 
possessions  to  the  poor,  and  went  about  in  mean  at- 
tire, preaching  to  their  people  the  new  king  of 
heaven  and  eai-th,  the  Child-King,  the  Prince  of 
Peace.  We  are  not  told  what  was  the  success  of 
'heir  mission  ;  neither  is  it  anywhere  recorded,  that 
from  that  time  forth,  every  child,  as  it  sat  on  its 
motlier*s  knee,  was,  even  for  the  saki  of  that 
Pnnce  of  Peace,  regarded  as  sacred-  — as  the 
heir  of  a  divine  nature  —  as  one  whose  tiny  limba 
enfolded  a  spirit  which  was  to  expand  into  the 
man,  the  king,  the  God.  Such  a  result  was,  per- 
haps, reserved  for  other  times,  when  the  whole 
mission  of  that  divine  Child  should  be  better  undei>- 
stood  than  it  was  then,  or  is  now  But  there  is  an 
ancient  oriental  tradition,  that  about  forty  yean 
later,  when  St.  Thomas  the  apostle  tr  welled  int« 


>36  LEGF-JNTDS   OF    THE   MADONNA. 

the  Indies,  lie  found  these  Wise  Men  there,  and 
did  administer  to  them  the  rite  of  baptism ;  and 
that  afterwards,  in  carrying  the  light  of  truth  into 
the  far  East,  they  fell  among  barbarous  Gentiles, 
and  were  put  to  death ;  thus  each  of  them  receiv- 
ing in  return  for  the  earthly  crowns  they  had  oast 
at  the  feet  of  the  Saviour,  the  heavenly  crown  of 
martyrdom  and  of  everlasting  life. 

Their  remains,  long  afterwards  discovered,  were 
brought  to  Constantinople  by  the  Empress  Helena ; 
thence  in  the  time  of  the  first  Crusade  they  were 
transported  to  Milan,  whence  they  were  carried 
off  by  the  Emperor  Barbarossa,  and  deposited 
in  the  cathedral  at  Cologne,  where  they  remain 
to  this  day,  laid  in  a  shrine  of  gold  and  gems ; 
and  have  performed  divers  great  and  glorious  mir- 
acles. 

Such,  in  few  words,  is  the  church  legend  of  the 
Magi  of  the  East,  the  "  three  Kings  of  Cologne,"  aa 
founded  on  the  mysterious  Gospel  incident.  States- 
men and  philosophers,  not  less  than  ecclesiastics, 
have,  as  yet,  missed  the  whole  sense  and  large  in- 
terpretation of  the  mythic  as  well  as  the  scriptural 
Btory ;  but  well  have  the  artists  availed  themselves 
of  its  picturesque  capabilities  I  In  their  hands  it 
jas  gradually  expanded  from  a  mere  symbol  into  a 
Btene  of  the  most  dramatic  and  varied  effect  and 
the  most  gorgeous  splendour.  As  a  subject  it  is 
©ne  of  the  most  ancient  in  the  whole  range  of 
Christian  art     Taken  in  the  early  religious  senses 


THV£   ADOKATION   OF    Ik.E   MAGI.  887 

It  signified  the  calling  of  the  Gentiles  ;  and  as  sucli 
we  find  it  carved  in  bas-relief  on  the  Christian  sar« 
eophagi  of  the  third  and  fourth  centuries,  and  rep- 
resented with  extreme  simplicity.  The  Virgin 
mother  is  seated  on  a  chair,  and  holds  the  Infant 
upright  on  her  knee.  The  Wise  Men,  always 
three  in  number,  and  all  alike,  approach  in  atti 
tudes  of  adoration.  In  some  instances  they  wear 
Phrygian  caps,  and  their  camels'  heads  are  seen 
behind  them,  serving  to  express  the  land  whence 
they  came,  the  land  of  the  East,  as  well  as  their 
long  journey ;  as  on  one  of  the  sarcophagi  in  the 
Christian  Museum  of  the  Vatican.  The  star  in 
these  antique  sculptures  is  generally  omitted ;  but 
in  one  or  two  instances  it  stands  immediately  over 
the  chair  of  the  Virgin.  On  a  sarcophagus  near 
the  entrance  of  the  tomb  of  Galla  Placidia,  at  Ra- 
venna, they  are  thus  represented. 

The  mosaic  in  the  church  of  Santa  Maria  Maggi- 
ore  at  Rome,  is  somewhat  later  in  date  than  these 
sarcophagi  (a.d.  440),  and  the  representation  is 
very  peculiar  and  interesting.  Here  the  Child  ia 
feated  alone  on  a  kind  of  square  pedestal,  with  his 
hand  raised  in  benediction ;  behind  the  throne 
fctand  two  figures,  supposed  to  be  the  Virgin  and 
Joseph ;  on  each  side,  two  angels.  The  kings  ap- 
proach, dressed  as  Roman  warriors,  with  helmets 
on  their  heads. 

In  the  mosaic  in  the  church  of  Sant'  AppoUinare- 
Novo,  at  Ravenna  (a.d.  534),  the  Virgin  receives 
tLem  seated  on  a  throne,  attended  by  the  arcb 


J38  LEGENDS    OF   THE   MADONNA. 

angels ;  they  approach,  wearing  crowns  on  their 
heads,  and  bending  in  attitudes  of  reverence:  all 
three  figures  are  exactly  alike,  and  rather  less  in 
proportion  than  the  divine  group. 

Immediately  on  the  revival  of  art  we  find  the 
Adoration  of  the  Kings  treated  in  the  Byzantine 
Btyle,  with  few  accessories.  Yery  soon,  however, 
in  the  early  Florentine  school,  the  artists  began 
to  avail  themselves  of  that  picturesque  variety  of 
groups  of  which  the  story  admitted. 

In  the  legends  of  the  fourteenth  century,  the 
kings  had  become  distinct  personages,  under  tho 
names  of  Caspar  (or  Jasper),  Melchior,  and  Bal- 
thasar:  the  first  being  always  a  very  aged  man, 
with  a  long  white  beard;  the  second,  a  middle- 
aged  man  ;  the  third  is  young,  and  frequently  he  is 
a  Moor  or  Negro,  to  express  the  King  of  Ethiopia 
or  Nubia,  and  also  to  indicate  that  when  the  Gen- 
tiles were  called  to  salvation,  all  the  continents  and 
races  of  the  earth,  of  whatever  complexion,  were 
included.  The  difierence  of  ages  is  indicated  in 
the  Greek  formula ;  but  the  difference  of  complex- 
ion is  a  modern  innovation,  and  more  frequently 
found  in  the  German  than  in  the  Italian  schools. 
In  the  old  legend  of  the  Three  Kings,  as  inserted 
m  Wright's  "  Chester  Mysteries,*'  Jasper,  or  Cas- 
par, is  King  of  Tarsus,  the  land  of  merchants ;  he 
makes  the  offering  of  gold.  Melchior,  the  King 
Off  Arabia  and  Nubia,  offers  frankincense;  anc^ 
Balthasar,  King  of  Saba,  —  "  the  land  of  spicei 


THE    ADORATION   01     VUK    AtAlil.  339 

lind  all  manner  ^f  preclou?  gums,**  —  offe'^ 
toyrrh.* 

It  is  very  usual  to  find,  in  the  Adoration  of  the 
Magi,  the  angelic  announcement  to  the  shepherds 
introduced  into  the  background ;  or,  more  poetical* 
ly,  the  Magi  approaching  on  one  side,  and  the 
shepherds  on  the  other.  The  intention  is  then  to 
express  a  double  signification;  it  is  at  once  the 
manifestation  to  the  Jews,  and  the  manifestation  to 
the  Gentiles. 

The  attitude  of  the  Child  varies.  In  the  best 
pictures  he  raises  his  little  hand  in  benediction. 
The  objection  that  he  was  then  only  an  infant  of  a 
few  days  old  is  futile  :  for  he  was  from  his  birth  the 
Christ.  It  is  also  in  accordance  with  the  beauti- 
ful and  significant  legend  which  describes  him  as 
dispensing  to  the  old  wise  men  the  spiritual  bless- 
ings of  love,  meekness,  and  perfect  faith,  in  return 
for  their  gifts  and  their  homage.  It  appears  to  me 
bad  taste,  verging  on  profanity,  to  represent  him 
plunging  his  little  hand  into  the  coffer  of  gold,  or 
eagerly  grasping  one  of  the  gold  pieces.  Neither 
Bhould  he  be  wrapped  up  in  swaddling  clothes,  nor 
in  any  way  a  subordinate  figure  in  the  group ;  for 
it  i^  the  Epiphany,  the  Manifestation  of  a  divine 
humanity  to  Jews  and  Gentiles,  which  is  to  be  ex- 
pressed ;  and  there  is  meaning  as  well  as  beauty  in 

•  The  names  of  the  Three  Kings  appear  for  the  first  time  in  « 
piece  of  rude  sculpture  over  the  door  of  Sant'  Andrea  at  Pistoia, 
lo  which  is  assigned  the  date  1166.  ( Vide  D'Agincourt,  SeuUw 
•^  pi.  xxvii.) 


140      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

those  compositions  which  represent  the  Virgin  ai 
lifting  a  veil  and  showing  him  to  the  Wise  Men. 

The  kingly  character  of  the  adorers,  which  be- 
came *n  the  thirteenth  century  a  point  of  faith,  ia 
expressed  by  giving  them  all  the  paraphernalia  and 
pomp  of  royalty  according  to  the  customs  of  the 
time  in  which  the  artist  lived.  They  are  followed 
by  a  vast  train  of  attendants,  guards,  pages,  grooms, 
falconers  with  hawks ;  and,  in  a  picture  by  Gauden- 
zio  Ferrari,  we  have  the  court-dwarf,  and,  in  a  pic- 
ture by  Titian,  the  court-fool,  both  indispensable 
appendages  of  royal  state  in  those  times.  The 
Kings  themselves  wear  embroidered  robes,  crowns, 
and  glittering  weapons,  and  are  booted  and  spurred 
as  if  just  alighted  from  a  long  journey ;  even  on  one 
of  the  sarcophagi  they  are  seen  in  spurs. 

The  early  Florentine  and  Venetian  painters  prof- 
ited by  the  commercial  relations  of  their  countries 
with  the  Levant,  and  introduced  all  kinds  of  out- 
landish and  oriental  accessories  to  express  the  far 
country  from  which  the  strangers  had  arrived; 
thus  we  have  among  the  presents,  apes,  peacocks, 
pheasants,  and  parrots.  The  traditions  of  the  cru- 
sades also  came  in  aid,  and  hence  we  have  the 
plumed  and  jewelled  turbans,  the  armlets  and  J;he 
Bcymitars,  and,  in  the  later  pictures,  even  umbrellas 
and  elephants.  I  remember,  in  an  old  Italian 
print  of  this  subject,  a  pair  of  hunting  leopards  ot 
chetas. 

It  is  a  question  whether  Joseph  was  present  — 
Iriiethar  he  ought  to  have  been  present :  in  one  of 


THE   ADORATION    OF    THE   MAGI.  34a 

Ihe  early  legends,  it  is  asserted  that  he  hid  himself 
\nd  would  not  appear,  out  of  his  great  humility, 
and  because  it  should  not  be  supposed  that  he  arro- 
gated any  relationship  to  the  divine  Child.  But 
this  version  of  the  scene  is  quite  inconsistent  with 
the  extreme  veneration  afterwards  paid  to  Joseph  { 
and  in  later  times,  that  is,  from  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, he  is  seldom  omitted.  Sometimes  he  ''«  seen 
behind  the  chair  of  the  Virgin,  leaning  on  his  stick, 
and  contemplating  the  scene  with  a  quiet  admira- 
tion. Sometimes  he  receives  the  gifts  offered  to 
the  Child,  acting  the  part  of  a  treasurer  or  cham- 
berlain. In  a  picture  by  Angelico  one  of  the 
Magi  grasps  his  hand  as  if  in  congratulation.  In 
a  composition  by  Parmigiano  one  of  the  Magi  em- 
braces him. 

It  was  not  uncommon  for  pious  votaries  to  have 
themselves  painted  in  Ukeness  of  one  of  the  adoring 
Bangs.  In  a  picture  by  Sandro  Botticelli,  Cosmo 
de'  Medici  is  thus  introduced  ;  and  in  a  large  and 
beautifully  arranged  composition  by  Leonardo  da 
Vinci,  which  unhappily  remains  as  a  sketch  only, 
the  three  Medici  of  that  time,  Cosmo,  Lorenzo,  and 
Giuliano,  are  figured  as  the  three  Kings.  (Both 
these  pictures  are  in  the  Florence  Gal.) 

A  very  remarkable  altar-piece,  by  Jean  Van 
Eyck,  represents  the  worship  of  the  Magi.  In 
the  centre,  Mary  and  her  Child  are  seated  witli- 
m  a  ruined  temple ;  the  eldest  Df  the  three  Kings 
Kneeling,  does  homage  by  kissing  the  hand  of  the 
Child :  it  is  the  portrait  of  Philip  the   jrood,  Duk« 


142  LEGENDS    OF    THE   MADONNA. 

of  Burgundy.  The  second,  prostrate  behind  hiit 
with  a  golden  beaker  in  his  hand,  is  supposed  to  be 
one  of  the  great  officers  of  his  household.  The 
third  King  exhibits  the  characteristic  portrait  of 
Charles  the  Bold :  there  is  no  expression  of  humil- 
ity or  devotion  either  in  his  countenance  or  atti- 
tude ;  he  stands  upright,  with  a  lofty  disdainful  air, 
as  if  he  were  yet  unresolved  whether  he  would 
kneel  or  not.  On  the  right  of  the  Virgin,  a  little  in 
the  foreground,  stands  Joseph  in  a  plain  red  dress, 
holding  his  hat  in  his  hand,  and  looking  with  an 
air  of  simple  astonishment  at  his  magnificent  guests. 
All  the  accessories  in  this  picture,  the  gold  and 
silver  vessels,  the  dresses  of  the  three  Kings  spark- 
ing with  jewels  and  pearls,  the  velvets,  silks,  and 
costly  furs,  are  painted  with  the  most  exquisite 
finish  and  delicacy,  and  exhibit  to  us  the  riches  of 
the  court  of  Burgundy,  in  which  Yan  Eyck  then 
resided.  (Munich  Gal.,  45.) 

In  Raphael's  composition,  the  worshippers  wear 
tK«5  classical,  not  the  oriental  costume  ;  but  an  ele- 
phant with  a  monkey  on  his  back  is  seen  in  the 
distance,  which  at  once  reminds  us  of  the  far  East. 
(Rome,  Vatican.) 

Ghirlandajo  frequently  painted  the  Adoration  of 
the  Magi,  and  shows  in  his  management  of  the  ac- 
cessories much  taste  and  symmetry.  In  one  of  his 
compositions,  the  shed  forms  a  canopy  in  the  cen- 
tre ;  two  of  the  Kings  kneel  in  front.  The  coun- 
try of  the  Ethiopian  King  is  not  expressed  by 
making  him  of  a  black  complexion,  but  by  giving 


THE   ADORATION   OF   THE   MAGI.  348 

him  a  Negro  page,  who  is  in  the  act  of  removing 
his  master's  crown.    (Florence,  Pitti  Pal.) 

A  very  complete  example  of  artificial  and  elab- 
orate composition  may  be  found  in  the  drawing  by 
Baldassare  Peruzzi  in  our  National  Gallery.  It 
contains  at  least  fifty  figures;  in  the  centre,  a 
magnificent  architectural  design ;  and  wonderful 
utudies  of  perspective  to  the  right  and  left,  in  the 
long  lines  of  receding  groups.  On  the  whole,  it  is 
a  most  skilful  piece  of  work ;  but  to  my  taste  much 
like  a  theatrical  decoration,  —  pompous  without  be- 
ing animated. 

A  beautiful  composition  by  Francia  I  must  not 
pass  over.*  Here,  to  the  left  of  the  picture,  the 
"Virgin  is  seated  on  the  steps  of  a  ruined  temple, 
against  which  grows  a  fig-tree,  which,  though  it  be 
December,  is  in  full  leaf.  Joseph  kneels  at  her 
side,  and  behind  her  are  two  Arcadian  shepherds, 
with  the  ox  and  the  ass.  The  Virgin,  who  has  a 
charming  air  of  modesty  and  sweetness,  presents 
her  Child  to  the  adoration  of  the  Wise  Men :  the 
first  of  these  kneels  with  joined  hands ;  the  second, 
also  kneeling,  is  about  to  present  a  golden  vase ; 
the  Negro  King,  standing,  has  taken  oflf  his  cap, 
and  holds  a  censer  in  his  hand ;  and  the  divine 
Infant  raises  his  hand  in  benediction.  Behind  the 
Kings  are  three  figures  on  foot,  one  a  beautiful  youth 

*  Dresden  Gal.  Arnold,  the  well-known  print-seller  at  Dres- 
ien,  has  lately  published  a  verf  beautiful  and  finished  engrav- 
bg  of  this  fine  picture ;  the  more  valuable,  because  engrayingf 
tttet  Francia  are  yery  rare. 


B44  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MADONNA. 

m  an  attitude  of  adoration.  Beyond  these  are  five 
or  six  figures  on  horseback,  and  a  long  train  upon 
horses  and  camels  is  seen  approaching  in  the  back- 
ground. The  landscape  is  very  beautiful  and  cheer- 
ful ;  the  whole  picture  much  in  the  style  of  Francia'a 
master,  Lorenzo  Costa.  I  should  at  the  first  glance 
have  supposed  it  to  be  his,  but  the  head  of  the  Vir- 
gin is  unmistakably  Francia. 

There  are  instances  of  this  subject  idealized  into 
a  mystery ;  for  example,  in  a  picture  by  Palma 
Vecchio  (Milan,  Brera),  St.  Helena  stands  behind 
the  Virgin,  in  allusion  to  the  legend  which  connect* 
her  with  the  history  of  the  Kings.  In  a  picture 
by  Garofalo,  the  star  shining  above  is  attended  by 
angels  bearing  the  instruments  of  the  Passion, 
while  St.  Bartholomew,  holding  his  skin,  stands 
near  the  Virgin  and  Child :  it  W2is  painted  for 
the  abbey  of  St.  Bartholomew,  at  Ferrara. 

Among  the  German  examples,  the  picture  by 
Albert  Durer,  in  the  tribune  of  the  Florence  Gal- 
lery ;  and  that  of  Mabuse,  in  the  collection  of 
Lord  Carlisle,  are  perhaps  the  most  perfect  of 
their  kind. 

In  the  last-named  picture  the  Virgin,  seated,  in 
a  plain  dark-blue  mantle,  with  the  German  physi- 
ognomy, but  large  browed,  and  with  a  very  serious, 
iweet  expression,  holds  the  Child.  The  eldest  of 
the  Kings,  as  usual,  offers  a  vase  of  gold,  out  of 
which  Christ  has  taken  a  piece,  which  he  holds  ir 
bis  hand.  The  name  of  the  King,  Jasper,  is  fca 
•cribed  on  the  vase ;  a  younger  King  behind  hold. 


TBE   ADORATION   OF   THE   MAGI.  84> 

ft  cup.  The  black  Ethiopian  king,  Balthasar,  is 
conspicuous  on  the  left;  he  stands,  crowned  and 
arrayed  in  gorgeous  drapery,  and,  as  if  more  fully 
to  mark  the  equality  of  the  races  —  at  least  in  spir- 
itueil  privileges  —  his  train  is  borne  by  a  white 
page.  An  exquisite  landscape  is  seen  through 
the  arch  behind,  and  the  shepherds  are  approach- 
ing in  the  middle  distance.  On  the  whole,  this  la 
one  of  the  most  splendid  pictures  of  the  early 
Flemish  school  I  have  ever  seen;  for  variety  of 
character,  glow  of  colour,  and  finished  execution, 
quite  unsurpassed. 

In  a  very  rich  composition  by  Lucas  van  Ley- 
den,  Herod  is  seen  in  the  background,  standing  in 
the  balcony  of  his  palace,  and  pointing  out  the 
scene  to  his  attendants. 

As  we  might  easily  imagine,  the  ornamental 
painters  of  the  Venetian  and  Flemish  schools  de- 
lighted in  this  subject,  which  allowed  them  full 
scope  for  their  gorgeous  colouring,  and  all  their 
scenic  and  dramatic  power.  Here  Paul  Veronese 
revelled  unreproved  in  Asiatic  magnificence ;  here 
his  brocaded  robes  and  jewelled  diadems  harmo- 
nized with  his  subject ;  and  his  grand,  old,  bearded 
Venetian  senators  figured,  not  unsuitably,  as  East- 
ern Kings.  Here  Rubens  lavished  his  ermine  and 
crimson  draperies,  his  vases,  and  ewers,  and  ^.cu- 
sers  of  flaming  gold ;  —  here  poured  over  his  can- 
vas the  wealth  "  of  Ormuz  and  of  Ind."  Of  lil- 
leen  pictures  of  this  subject,  whioh  he  painted  at 
iifferent  times,  the  firest  undoubtedly  is  that  in 


546      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

the  Madrid  Gallery.  Another,  also  very  fine,  is  in 
the  collection  of  the  Marquis  of  Westminster.  In 
both  these,  the  Virgin,  contrary  to  all  former  pre- 
cedent, is  not  seated,  but  standing ^  as  she  holds  up 
her  Child  for  worship.  Afterwards  we  find  the 
same  position  of  the  Virgin  in  pictures  by  Van- 
dyck,  Poussin,  and  other  painters  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  It  is  quite  an  innovation  on  the 
old  religious  arrangement;  but  in  the  utter  ab- 
sence of  all  religious  feeling,  the  mere  arrange- 
ment of  the  figures,  except  in  an  artistic  point  ok 
view,  is  of  little  consequence. 

As  a  scene  of  oriental  pomp,  heightened  by  mys- 
terious shadows  and  flashing  lights,  I  know  nothing 
equal  to  the  Rembrandt  in  the  Queen's  Gallery ; 
the  procession  of  attendants  seen  emerging  from 
the  background  through  the  transparent  gloom  is 
quite  awful ;  but  in  this  miraculous  picture,  the 
V)vely  Virgin  Mother  is  metamorphosed  into  a 
coarse  Dutch  vrow,  and  the  divine  Child  looks  like 
a  changeling  imp. 

In  chapels  dedicated  to  the  Nativity  or  the 
Epiphany,  we  frequently  find  the  journey  of  the 
Wise  Men  painted  round  the  walls.  They  are 
geen  mounted  on  horseback,  or  on  camels,  with  a 
long  train  of  attendants,  here  ascending  a  moun 
tain,  there  crossing  a  river ;  here  winding  through 
a  defile,  there  emerging  from  a  forest;  while  the 
miraculous  star  shines  above,  pointing  out  the  way 
Sometimes  we  have  the  approach  of  the  Wise  Men 
»n  one  side  of  the  chapel,  and  their  return  to  theb 


THE   ADORATION   OF    THE   MAGI.  347 

Dwn  country  on  the  other.  On  their  homeward 
journey  they  are,  in  s)me  few  instances,  embark- 
ing in  a  ship :  this  occurs  in  a  fresco  by  Lorenzo 
Costa,  and  in  a  bas-relief  in  the  cathedral  of 
Amiens.  The  allusion  is  to  a  curious  legend  men- 
tioned by  Arnobius  the  Younger,  in  his  commen- 
tary on  the  Psalms  (fifth  century).  He  says,  in 
reference  to  the  48th  Psalm,  that  when  Herod 
found  that  the  three  Kings  had  escaped  from  him 
"  in  ships  of  Tarsus,"  in  his  wrath  he  burned  all 
the  vessels  in  the  port. 

There  is  a  beautiful  fresco  of  the  journey  of  the 
Magi  in  the  Riccardi  Chapel  at  Florence,  painted 
by  Benozzo  Gozzoli  for  the  old  Cosmo  de'  Medici. 

"  The  Baptism  of  the  Magi  by  St.  Thomas,''  is 
one  of  the  compartments  of  the  Life  of  the  Virgin, 
painted  by  Taddeo  Gaddi,  in  the  Baroncelli  Chapel 
at  Florence,  and  this  is  the  only  instance  I  can 
refer  to. 

Before  I  quit  this  subject  —  one  of  the  most 
interesting  in  the  whole  range  of  art  —  I  must 
mention  a  picture  by  Giorgione  in  the  Belvedere 
Gallery,  well  known  as  one  of  the  few  undoubted 
productions  of  that  rare  and  fascinating  painter, 
and  often  referred  to  because  of  its  beauty.  Its  sig- 
nification has  hitherto  escaped  all  writers  on  art, 
as  far  as  I  am  acquainted  with  them,  and  has  been 
dismissed  as  one  of  his  enigmatical  allegories.  It 
IS  called  in  German,  Die  Feldmdsser  (the  Land 
Surveyors),  and  sometimes  styled  in  English  th« 


148  LEGENDS   OF   THE   MADONNA 

Geometricians^  or  the  Philosophers^  or  the  AstroUh 
gers.  It  represents  a  wild,  rocky  landscape,  in 
which  are  three  men.  The  first,  very  aged,  in  an 
oriental  costume,  with  a  long  gray  beard,  stands 
holding  in  his  hand  an  astronomical  table;  the 
next,  a  man  in  the  prime  of  hfe,  seems  listening  to 
him;  the  third,  a  youth,  seated  and  looking  up- 
wards, holds  a  compass.  I  have  myself  no  doubt 
that  this  beautiful  picture  represents  the  "three 
wise  men  of  the  East,"  watching  on  the  Chaldean 
hills  the  appearance  of  the  miraculous  star,  and 
that  the  light  breaking  in  the  far  horizon,  called  in 
the  German  description  the  rising  sun,  is  intended 
to  express  the  rising  of  the  star  of  Jacob.*  In  the 
sumptuous  landscape,  and  colour,  and  the  pictu- 
resque rather  than  religious  treatment,  this  picture 
is  quite  Venetian.  The  interpretation  here  sug- 
gested I  leave  to  the  consideration  of  the  observer ; 
and  without  allowing  myself  to  be  tempted  on  to 
further  illustration,  will  only  add,  in  conclusion, 
that  I  do  not  remember  any  Spanish  picture  of  this 
subject  remarkable  either  for  beauty  or  origi- 
nality .j  , 

*  There  is  also  a  print  by  Giulio  Bonasoni,  which  appears  to 
represent  the  wise  men  watching  for  the  star.  {Bartsch^  xr. 
156.) 

t  In  the  last  edition  of  the  "Henna  Catalogue,  this  picture  bai 
HociTed  its  proper  title. 


THE   PRESENTATION   IN   THE    TEMPLE.     349 


rJIE  PURIFICATION  OF  THE  VIRGIN  THE 
PRESENTATION,  AND  THE  CIRCUMCISION 
OF   CHRIST. 

tflrf.  La  Purificazione  della  B.  Vergine.     Ger.  Die  Darbringuuf 
im  Tempel.    Die  Beschneidung  Ohristi. 

After  the  birth  of  her  Son,  Mary  was  careful  to 
fulfil  all  the  ceremonies  of  the  Mosaic  law.  As  a 
first-bom  son,  he  was  to  be  redeemed  by  the  offering 
of  five  shekels,  or  a  pair  of  young  pigeons  (in  mem- 
ory of  the  first-born  of  Egypt).  But  previously, 
being  born  of  the  children  of  Abraham,  the  infant 
Christ  was  submitted  to  the  sanguinary  rite  which 
sealed  the  covenant  of  Abraham,  and  received  the 
name  of  Jesus  —  "  that  name  before  which  every 
knee  was  to  bow,  which  was  to  be  set  above  the 
powers  of  magic,  the  mighty  rites  of  sorcerers,  the 
secrets  of  Memphis,  the  drugs  of  Thessaly,  the 
silent  and  mysterious  murmurs  of  the  wise  Cnal- 
dees,  and  the  spells  of  Zoroaster ;  that  name  which 
we  should  engrave  on  our  hearts,  and  pronounce 
with  our  most  harmonious  accents,  and  rest  our 
faith  on,  and  place  our  hopes  in,  and  love  with 
the  overflowing  of  charity,  joy,  and  adoration. '' 
(v.  Bishop  Taylor's  Life  of  Christ.) 

The  circumcision  and  the  naming  of  Christ  have 

many  times  been  painted  to  express   the  first  oi 

the  sorrows  of  the  Virgin,  being  the  first  of  the 

^doigs  which  her  Scm  was  to  sufier  on  earth.    But 

23 


550       LEGEUDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

the  Presentation  in  the  Temple  has  been  selected 
with  better  taste  for  the  same  purpose;  and  the 
prophecy  of  Simeon,  '*  Yea,  a  sword  shall  pierce 
through  thy  own  soul  also,"  becomes  the  first  of  the 
Seven  Sorrows.  It  is  an  undecided  point  whether 
Ihe  Adoration  of  the  Magi  took  place  thirteen 
days,  or  one  year  and  thirteen  days  after  the  birth 
of  Christ.  In  a  series  of  subjects  artistically  ar- 
ranged, the  Epiphany  always  precedes,  in  order 
of  time,  that  scene  in  the  temple  which  is  some- 
times styled  the  Purification,  sometimes  the  Pres- 
entation and  sometimes  the  Nunc  Dimittis,  They 
are  three  distinct  incidents ;  but,  as  far  as  I  can 
judge,  neither  the  painters  themselves,  nor  those 
who  have  named  pictures,  have  been  careful  to 
discriminate  between  them.  On  a  careful  exam- 
ination of  various  compositions,  some  of  special 
celebrity,  which  are  styled,  in  a  general  way,  the 
Presentation  in  the  Temple,  it  will  appear,  I  think, 
that  the  idea  uppermost  in  the  painter's  mind  has 
been  to  represent  the  prophecy  of  Simeon. 

No  doubt,  in  later  times,  the  whole  scene,  as  a 
subject  of  art,  was  considered  in  reference  chiefly 
to  the  Virgin,  and  the  intention  was  to  express  the 
first  of  her  Seven  Sorrows.  But  in  ancient  art, 
and  especially  in  Greek  art,  the  character  of 
Simeon  assumed  a  singular  significance  and  impor- 
tance, which  so  long  as  modern  art  was  influenced 
by  the  traditional  Byzantine  types,  modified,  in 
Bome  degree,  the  arrangement  and  sentiment  0/ 
this  favourite  subject. 


THE    PKE8ENTATI0N   IN    THE    TEMPLE.     351 

It  is  related  that  when  Ptolemy  Philadelphus^ 
fcboul  260  years  before  Christ,  resolved  to  have 
the  Hebrew  Scriptures  translated  into  Greek,  for 
the  purpose  of  placing  them  in  his  far-famed  li- 
brary, he  despatched  messengers  to  Eleazar,  tho 
High  Priest  of  the  Jews,  requiring  him  to  send 
Bcribes  and  interpreters  learned  in  the  Jewish  law 
to  his  court  at  Alexandria.  Thereupon  Eleazar 
selected  six  of  the  most  learned  Rabbis  from  each 
of  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel,  seventy-two  persons 
in  all,  and  sent  them  to  Egypt,  in  obedience  to  the 
commands  of  King  Ptolemy,  and  among  these  was 
Simeon,  a  priest,  and  a  man  full  of  learning.  And 
it  fell  to  the  lot  of  Simeon  to  translate  the  book  of 
the  prophet  Isaiah.  And  when  he  came  to  that 
verse  where  it  is  written,  "  Behold  a  Virgin  shall 
conceive  and  bear  a  son,"  he  began  to  misdoubt,  in 
his  own  mind,  how  this  could  be  possible;  and, 
after  long  meditation,  fearing  to  give  scandal  and 
offence  to  the  Greeks,  he  rendered  the  Hebrew 
word  Virgin  by  a  Greek  word  which  signifies  merely 
a  young  woman ;  but  when  he  had  written  it  down, 
behold  an  angel  effaced  it,  and  substituted  the  right 
WDrd.  Thereupon  he  wrote  it  again  and  again ; 
jtcd  the  same  thing  happened  three  times  ;  and  ho 
remained  astonished  and  confounded.  And  while 
he  wondered  what  this  should  mean,  a  ray  of  di- 
vine light  penetrated  his  soul ;  it  was  revealed  to 
him  that  the  miracle  which,  in  his  human  wisdom 
he  had  presumed  to  do'ibt,  was  not  only  possible^ 
but  that  he,  Simeon,  "  should  not  see  death  till  h*j 


S52      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

had  seen  the  Lord's  Christ."  Therefore  he  tarried 
on  earth,  by  the  divine  will,  for  nearly  three  cen- 
turies, till  that  which  he  had  disbelieved  had  com? 
to  pass.  He  was  led  by  the  Spirit  to  the  temple 
on  the  very  day  when  Mary  came  there  to  present 
her  Son,  and  to  make  her  offering,  and  imme- 
diately, taking  the  Child  in  his  arms,  he  exclaimed, 
"Lord,  now  lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart  in 
peace,  according  to  thy  word."  And  of  the  Vir- 
gin Mother,  also,  he  prophesied  sad  and  glorious 
things. 

Anna  the  Prophetess,  who  was  standing  by,  also 
testified  to  the  presence  of  the  theocratic  King ;  but 
she  did  not  take  him  in  her  arms,  as  did  Simeon. 
(Luke  ii.  32.)  Hence,  she  was  early  regarded  as 
a  type  of  the  synagogue,  which  prophesied  great 
things  of  the  Messiah,  but,  nevertheless,  did  not 
embrace  him  when  he  appeared,  as  did  the  Gen- 
tiles. 

That  these  curious  legends  relative  to  Simeon 
and  Anna,  and  their  symbolical  interpretation, 
were  well  known  to  the  old  painters,  there  can  be 
no  doubt ;  and  both  were  perhaps  in  the  mind  of 
Bishop  Taylor  when  he  wrote  his  eloquent  chapter 
on  t^e  Presentation.  "There  be  some,"  he  says, 
**  who  wear  the  name  of  Christ  on  theii  heads,  tc 
make  a  show  to  the  world  ;  and  there  be  some  who 
have  it  always  in  their  mouths  ;  and  there  be  some 
who  carry  Christ  on  their  shoulders,  as  if  he  were 
%  burthen  too  heavy  to  bear ;  and  there  be  some  — 
who  ia  me  I  —  who  trample  him  under  their  feet 


THE   PRESENTATION   IN   THE   TEMPLE.     353 

Dut  he  IS  the  true  Christian  who,  like  Simeon j  em 
braces  Christ,  and  takes  him  to  his  heart." 

Now,  ii  seems  to  me  that  it  is  distinctly  the 
acknowledgment  of  Christ  by  Simeon,  —  that  ia^ 
Christ  received  by  the  Gentiles,  —  which  is  in* 
tended  to  be  placed  before  us  in  the  very  early 
pictures  of  the  Presentation,  or  the  Nunc  dimittis^ 
as  it  is  always  styled  in  Greek  art.  The  appear 
ance  of  an  attendant,  bearing  the  two  turtle-doves, 
shows  it  to  be  also  the  so-called  Purification  of  the 
Virgin.  In  an  antique  formal  Greek  version  we 
have  the  Presentation  exactly  according  to  the  pat- 
tern described  by  Didron.  The  great  gold  censer 
is  there ;  the  cupola,  at  top ;  Joseph  carrying  the 
two  young  pigeons,  and  Anna  behind  Simeon. 

In  a  celebrated  composition  by  Fra  Bartolomeo, 
there  is  the  same  disposition  of  the  personages,  but 
an  additional  female  figure.  This  is  not  Anna,  the 
mother  of  the  Virgin  (as  I  have  heard  it  said),  but 
probably  Mary  Salome,  who  had  always  attended 
on  the  Virgin  ever  since  the  Nativity  at  Bethle- 
hem. 

The  subject  is  treated  with  exquisite  simplicity 
by  Francia ;  we  have  just  the  same  personages  as 
in  the  rude  Greek  model,  but  disposed  with  con- 
summate grace.  Still,  to  represent  the  Child  as 
completely  undraped  has  been  considered  as  a 
wlecism.  He  ought  to  stretch  out  his  hands  to  his 
toother  and  to  look  as  if  he  understood  the  porten- 
tous words  which  foretold  his  destiny.     Sometimci 


554  LEGENDS    OF   THE   MADONNA. 

the  imagination  is  assisted  by  the  choice  of  the  ars 
cessories ;  thus  Fra  Bartolomeo  has  given  us,  in 
the  background  of  his  group,  Moses  holding  the 
broken  table  of  the  old  law ;  and  Francia  represents 
in  the  same  manner  the  sacrifice  of  Abraham ;  for 
thus  did  Mary  bring  her  Son  as  an  ofiering.  In 
many  pictures  Simeon  raises  his  eyes  to  heaven  in 
gratitude ;  but  those  painters  who  wished  to  ex- 
press the  presence  of  the  Divinity  in  the  person  of 
Christ,  made  Simeon  looking  at  the  Child,  and  ad-* 
dressing  him  as  "  Lord/' 


THE  FLIGHT  INTO  EGYPT. 

Jtal.  La  Fiiga  in  Egitto.    Pr.  La  Fuite  de  la  Sainte  Famille  e« 
Egypte.     Ger.  Die  Flucht  nach  ^gypten. 

The  wrath  of  Herod  against  the  Magi  of  the 
East  who  had  escaped  from  his  power,  enhanced 
by  his  fears  of  the  divine  and  kingly  Infant,  occa- 
sioned the  massacre  of  the  Innocents,  which  led  to 
the  flight  of  the  Holy  Family  into  Egypt.  Of  the 
martyred  children,  in  their  character  of  martyrs,  I 
have  already  spoken,  and  of  their  proper  place  in 
a  scheme  of  ecclesiastical  decoration.  There  is 
«urely  something  very  pathetic  in  that  feeling 
which  exalted  these  infant  victims  into  objects  of 
religious  veneration,  making  them  the  cherished 
Rompanions  in  heavenly  glory  of  the  Saviour  for 
irhose  sake  they  were  sacrificed  on  earth.     He  ha<f 


THE   FLIGHT   INTO   EGYPT.  865 

jaid,  "  Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto  me ; "  and 
to  these  were  granted  the  prerogatives  of  pam,  as 
well  as  the  privileges  of  innocence.  If,  in  the  day 
of  retribution,  they  sit  at  the  feet  of  the  Redeemer, 
surely  they  will  appeal  against  us,  then  and  there ; 
—  against  us  who,  in  these  days,  through  our  reck- 
less neglect,  slay,  body  and  soul,  legions  of  inno- 
cents, —  poor  little  unblest  creatures,  "  martyrs  by 
the  pang  without  the  palm,"  —  yet  dare  to  call 
ourselves  Christians. 

The  Massacre  of  the  Innocents,  as  an  event,  be- 
longs properly  to  the  life  of  Christ :  it  is  not  in- 
cluded in  a  series  of  the  life  of  the  Virgin,  perhaps 
from  a  feeling  that  the  contrast  between  the  most 
blessed  of  women  and  mothers,  and  those  who  wept 
distracted  for  their  children,  was  too  painful,  and 
did  not  harmonize  with  the  general  subject.  In 
pictures  of  the  Flight  into  Egypt,  I  have  seen  it 
introduced  allusively  into  the  background ;  and  in 
the  architectural  decoration  of  churches  dedicated 
to  the  Virgin  Mother,  as  Notre  Dame  de  Chartres,  it 
finds  a  place,  but  not  often  a  conspicuous  place ;  * 
it  is  rather  indicated  than  represented.  I  should 
pass  over  the  subject  altogether,  best  pleased  to  be 
spared  the  theme,  but  that  there  are  some  circum- 
stances connected  with  it  which  require  elucidation, 
because  we  find  them  introduced  incidentally  into 
pictures  of  the  Flight  and  the  Riposo. 

*  It  is  conspicuous  and  eleg&iitlf  treated  ?Ter  the  door  of  Hit 
Klrche  at  Nuremberg. 


J56  LEGENDS   OF   THE   MADONNA. 

Thus,  it  is  related  that  among  the  children  whon 
Herod  was  bent  on  destroying,  was  St.  John  the 
Baptist ;  but  his  mother  Elizabeth  fled  with  him  to 
a  desert  place,  and  being  pursued  by  the  murderers, 
•*  the  rock  opened  by  a  miracle,  and  closed  upon 
Elizabeth  and  her  child;"  which  means,  as  we 
may  presume,  that  they  took  refuge  in  a  cavern, 
and  were  concealed  within  it  until  the  danger  wag 
over.  Zacharias,  refusing  to  betray  his  son,  was 
slain  "  between  the  temple  and  the  altar."  (Matt 
xxiii.  35.)  Both  these  legends  are  to  be  met  with 
in  the  Greek  pictures,  and  in  the  miniatures  of  the 
thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries.* 

From  the  butchery  which  made  so  many  mothers 
childless,  the  divine  Infant  and  his  mother  were 
miraculously  saved ;  for  an  angel  spoke  to  Joseph 
in  a  dream,  saying,  "  Arise,  and  take  the  young 
child  and  his  mother,  and  flee  into  Egypt."  This 
is  the  second  of  the  four  angelic  visions  which  are 
recorded  of  Joseph.  It  is  not  a  frequent  subject  in 
early  art,  but  is  often  met  with  in  pictures  of  the 
later  schools.  Joseph  is  asleep  in  his  chair,  the  an- 
gel stands  before  him,  and,  with  a  significant  gesture, 
points  forward  —  "  arise  and  flee  I " 

There  is  an  exquisite  little  composition  by  Ti- 
tian, called  a  Riposo^  which  may  possibly  represent 
the  preparation  for  the  Flight.  Here  Mary  is 
•eated  under  a  tree  nursing  her  Infant,  while  in 
the  background  is  a  sort  of  rude  stable,  in  which 

*  They  will  be  found  treated  at  length  in  the  artistio  subject* 
tftomeeted  with  St.  John  the  Baptist. 


THE   FLIGHT   INTO    EGYPT.  867 

/oseph  is  seen  saddling  the  ass,  while  the  ox  is  on 
the  outside. 

In  a  composition  by  Tiarini,  we  see  Joseph  hold- 
ing the  Infant,  while  Mary,  leaning  one  hand  on 
his  shoulder,  is  about  to  mount  the  ass. 

In  a  composition  by  Poussin,  Mary,  who  has  just 
seated  herself  on  the  ass,  takes  the  Child  from  the 
arms  of  Joseph.  Two  angels  lead  the  ass,  a  third 
kneels  in  homage,  and  two  others  are  seen  above 
with  a  curtain  to  pitch  a  tent. 

I  must  notice  here  a  tradition  that  both  the  ox  ■ 
and  the  ass  who  stood  over  the  manger  at  Bethle- 
hem, accompanied  the  Holy  Family  into  Egypt. 
In  Albert  Durer*s  print,  the  ox  and  the  ass  walk 
side  by  side.  It  is  also  related  that  the  Virgin  was 
accompanied  by  Salome,  and  Joseph  by  three  of 
his  sons.  This  version  of  the  story  is  generally  re- 
jected by  the  painters ;  but  in  the  series  by  Giotto 
in  the  Arena  at  Padua,  Salome  and  the  three 
youths  attend  on  Mary  and  Joseph  ;  and  I  remem- 
ber another  instance,  a  little  picture  by  Lorenzo 
Monaco,  in  which  Salome,  who  had  vowed  to  at- 
tend on  Christ  and  his  mother  as  long  as  she  lived, 
b  seen  following  the  ass,  veiled,  and  supporting  her 
iteps  with  a  staff. 

But  this  is  a  rare  exception.  The  general  treat- 
ment confines  the  group  to  Joseph,  the  mother,  and 
the  Child.  To  Joseph  was  granted,  in  those  hourg 
of  distress  and  danger,  the  high  privilege  of  provid- 
ing for  the  safety  of  the  Holy  Infant  —  a  circum* 


568      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONKA. 

Btance  much  enlarged  upon  in  the  old  legends 
and  to  express  this  more  vividly,  he  is  sometimet 
represented  in  early  Greek  art  as  carrying  the 
Child  in  his  arms,  or  on  his  shoulder,  while  Mary 
follows  on  the  ass.  He  is  so  figured  on  the  sculp- 
tured doors  of  the  cathedral  of  Beneventum,  and 
in  the  cathedral  of  Monreale,  both  executed  by 
Greek  artists.*  But  we  are  not  to  suppose  that 
the  Holy  Family  was  left  defenceless  on  the  long 
journey.  The  angels  who  had  charge  concerning 
them  were  sent  to  guide  them  by  day,  to  watch  over 
them  by  night,  to  pitch  their  tent  before  them,  and 
to  refresh  them  with  celestial  fruit  and  flowers. 
By  the  introduction  of  these  heavenly  ministers  the 
group  is  beautifully  varied. 

Joseph,  says  the  Gospel  story,  "  arose  by  night ; " 
hence  there  is  both  meaning  and  propriety  in  those 
pictures  which  represent  the  Flight  as  a  night- 
Bcene,  illuminated  by  the  moon  and  stars,  though 
I  believe  this  has  been  done  more  to  exhibit  the 
painter's  mastery  over  effects  of  dubious  light,  than 
as  a  matter  of  biblical  accuracy.  Sometimes  an 
angel  goes  before,  carrying  a  torch  or  lantern,  to 
light  them  on  the  way ;  sometimes  it  is  Joseph  who 
carries  the  lantern. 

In  a  picture  by  Nicolo  Poussin,  Mary  walks  be* 
fore,  carrying  the  Infant ;  Joseph  follows,  leading 
the  as3 ;  and  an  angel  guides  them. 

The  journey  did   not,  however,  comprise   onf 

•  Uftb  ««ntiu/.    Also  at  Gittk  di  Castero    same  date. 


THE   FLIGHT   INTO    EGYPT.  85> 

night  only.  There  is,  indeed,  an  antique  tradilion, 
that  space  and  time  were,  on  this  occasion,  miracu- 
lously shortened  to  secure  a  life  of  so  much  impor- 
tance; still,  we  are  allowed  to  believe  that  the 
journey  extended  over  many  days  and  nights ; 
consequently  it  lay  within  the  choice  of  the  artist 
to  exhibit  the  scene  of  the  Flight  either  by  night  or 
by  day. 

In  many  representations  of  the  Flight  into  Egypt, 
we  find  in  the  background  men  sowing  or  cutting 
corn.  This  is  in  allusion  to  the  following  le- 
gend :  — 

When  it  was  discovered  that  the  Holy  Family 
had  fled  from  Bethlehem,  Herod  sent  his  officers  in 
pursuit  of  them.  And  it  happened  that  when  the 
Holy  Family  had  travelled  some  distance,  they 
came  to  a  field  where  a  man  was  sowing  wheat. 
And  the  Virgin  said  to  the  husbandman,  "  If  any 
Bhall  ask  you  whether  we  have  passed  this  way,  ye 
fihall  answer,  *  Such  persons  passed  this  way  when 
I  was  sowing  this  corn.' "  For  the  holy  Virgin  was 
too  wise  and  too  good  to  save  her  Son  by  instruct- 
ing the  man  to  tell  a  falsehood.  But  behold,  a  mir- 
acle I  For  by  the  power  of  the  Infant  Saviour,  m 
the  space  of  a  single  night,  the  seed  sprung  up  into 
$talk,  blade,  and  ear,  fit  for  the  sickle.  And  next 
morning  the  officers  of  Herod  camt  up,  and  in- 
ouired  of  the  husbandman,  saying,  "  Have  you 
leen  an  old  man  with  a  woman  and  a  Child  travel- 
ling this  way  ?  *'  And  the  man,  who  was  reaping 
bis  wheat,  in  groat  wonder  and  admiration,  replied 


560      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

"  Yes."  And  they  asked  again,  "  Hotv  long  is  iX 
since  ?  '*  And  he  answered,  "  When  I  was  sowing 
this  wheat."  Then  the  officers  of  Herod  turned 
back,  and  left  off  pursuing  the  Holy  Family. 

A  very  remarkable  example  of  the  introduction 
of  this  legend  occurs  in  a  celebrated  picture  by 
Hans  Hemling  (Munich  Gal.,  Cabinet  iv.  69), 
known  as  "  Die  Sieben  Freuden  Maria."  In  the 
background,  on  the  left,  is  the  Flight  into  Egypt; 
the  men  cutting  and  reaping  corn,  and  the  officers 
of  Herod  in  pursuit  of  the  Holy  Family.  By  those 
unacquainted  with  the  old  legend,  the  introduction 
of  the  cornfield  and  reapers  is  supposed  to  be 
merely  a  decorative  landscape,  without  any  pecu- 
liar significance. 

In  a  very  beautifiil  fresco  by  Pinturicchio, 
(Rome,  St.  Onofrio),  the  Holy  Family  are  taking 
their  departure  from  Bethlehem.  The  city,  with 
the  massacre  of  the  Innocents,  is  seen  in  the  back- 
ground. In  the  middle  distance,  the  husbandman 
cutting  com  ;  and  nearer,  the  palm  tree  bending 
down. 

It  is  supposed  by  conmientators  that  Joseph 
travelled  from  Bethlehem  across  the  hilly  country 
of  Judea,  taking  the  road  to  Joppa,  and  then  pur- 
suing the  way  along  the  coast.  Nothing  is  said  in 
the  Gospel  of  the  events  of  this  long  and  perilous 
journey  of  at  least  400  miles,  which,  in  the  natural 
erder   of  things,  must  have  occupied  five   or  su 


THE   FLIGHT   INTO   EGYPT.  861 

creeks ;  and  the  legendary  traditions  are  very  few. 
Such  as  they  are,  however,  the  painters  have  not 
Med  to  take  advantage  of  them. 

We  are  told  that  on  descending  from  the  moun- 
tains, they  came  down  upon  a  beautiful  plain  enani- 
elled  with  flowers,  watered  by  murmuring  streams, 
and  shaded  by  fruit  trees.  In  such  a  lovely  land- 
Bcape  have  the  painters  delighted  to  place  some  of 
the  scenes  of  the  Flight  into  Egypt.  On  another 
occasion,  they  entered  a  thick  forest,  a  wilderness 
of  trees,  in  which  they  must  have  lost  their  way, 
had  they  not  been  guided  by  an  angel.  Here  we 
encounter  a  legend  which  has  hitherto  escaped,  be* 
cause,  indeed,  it  defied,  the  art  of  the  painter.  As 
the  Holy  Family  entered  this  forest,  all  the  trees 
bowed  themselves  down  in  reverence  to  the  Infant 
God ;  only  the  aspen,  in  her  exceeding  pride  and 
arrogance,  refused  to  acknowledge  him,  and  stood 
upright.  Then  the  Infant  Christ  pronounced  a 
curse  against  her,  as  he  afterwards  cursed  the  bar- 
ren fig  tree ;  and  at  the  sound  of  his  words  the 
aspen  began  to  tremble  through  all  her  leaves, 
and  has  not  ceased  to  tremble  even  to  this  day. 

We  know  from  Josephus  the  historian,  that  about 
this  time  Palestine  was  infested  by  bands  of  robbers. 
There  is  an  ancient  tradition,  that  when  the  Holy 
Family  travelling  through  hidden  paths  and  soli- 
tary defiles.  Had  passed  Jerusalem,  and  were  de- 
icending  into  the  plains  of  Syria,  they  encountered 
certain  thieves  who  fell  upon  them ;  and  one  of 
lihem  would  have  maltreated  aad  plundered  them, 


562      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

but  his  comrade  interfered,  and  said,  "  Suffei  them, 
I  beseech  thee,  to  go  in  peace,  and  I  will  give  thee 
forty  groats,  and  likewise  my  girdle ; "  which  offer 
being  accepted,  the  merciful  robber  led  the  Holy 
Travellers  to  his  stronghold  on  the  rock,  and  gave 
them  lodging  for  the  night.  (Gospel  of  Infancy,  ch. 
viii.)  And  Mary  said  to  him,  "  The  Lord  God  will 
receive  thee  to  his  right  hand,  and  grant  thee  par- 
don of  thy  sins !  *'  And  it  was  so :  for  in  after 
times  these  two  thieves  were  crucified  with  Christ, 
one  on  the  right  hand,  and  one  on  the  left ;  and  the 
merciful  thief  went  with  the  Saviour  into  Paradise. 

The  scene  of  this  encounter  with  the  robbers, 
near  Ramla,  is  still  pointed  out  to  travellers,  and 
Btill  in  evil  repute  as  the  haunt  of  banditti.  The 
crusaders  visited  the  spot  as  a  place  of  pilgrimage 
and  the  Abbe  Orsini  considers  the  first  part  of  the 
story  as  authenticated;  but  the  legend  concerning 
the  good  thief  he  admits  to  be  doubtful.  (Vie  de  la 
Ste.  Vierge.) 

As  an  artistic  subject  this  scene  has  been  seldom 
treated.  I  have  seen  two  pictures  which  represent 
it.  One  is  a  fi'esco  by  Giovanni  di  San  Giovanni, 
which,  having  been  cut  from  the  wall  of  some  sup- 
pressed convent,  is  now  in  the  academy  at  Flor- 
ence,    The  other  is  a  composition  by  Zuccaro. 

One  of  the  most  popular  legends  concerning  the 
Flight  into  Egypt  is  that  of  the  palm  or  date  tree, 
which  at  the  command  of  Jesus  bowed  down  ita 
branches  to  shade  and  refresh  his  mother ;  hence 
m  the  scene  of  the  Flight,  a  palm  tree  became  « 


IHE   FLIGHT   INTO   EGYPT,  36 1 

flsual  accessory.  In  a  picture  by  Antonello  Mel- 
lone,  the  Child  stretches  out  his  little  hand  and  laya 
hold  of  the  branch :  sometimes  the  branch  is  bent 
iown  by  angel  hands.  Sozomenes  relates,  that 
when  the  Holy  Family  reached  the  term  of  their 
journey,  and  approached  the  city  of  Heliopolis  in 
Egypt,  a  tree  which  grew  before  the  gates  of  thj 
city,  and  was  regarded  with  great  veneration  as  th<» 
seat  of  a  god,  bowed  down  its  branches  at  the  ap- 
proach of  the  Infant  Christ.  Likewise  it  is  related 
(not  in  legends  merely,  but  by  grave  religious  au- 
thorities) that  all  the  idols  of  the  Egyptians  fell 
with  their  faces  to  the  earth.  I  have  seen  pictures 
of  the  Flight  into  Egypt,  in  which  broken  idols  lie 
by  the  wayside. 

In  the  course  of  the  journey  the  Holy  Travellers 
had  to  cross  rivers  and  lakes ;  hence  the  later 
painters,  to  vary  the  subject,  represented  them  as 
embarking  in  a  boat,  sometimes  steered  by  an  angel. 
The  first,  as  I  have  reason  to  believe,  who  ventured 
on  this  innovation,  was  Annibale  Caracci.  In 
a  picture  by  Poussin,  the  Holy  Family  are  about 
to  embark.  In  a  picture  by  Giordano,  an  angel 
with  one  knee  bent,  assists  Mary  to  enter  the  boat 
In  a  pretty  little  picture  by  Teniers,  the  Holy  Fam- 
ily and  the  ass  are  seen  in  a  boat  crossing  a  ferry 
by  moonlight ;  sometimes  they  are  crossing  a  bridge 

I  must  notice  here  a  little  pictui>3  by  Adrian  Vau' 
ier  WerfF,  in  which  the  Virgin,  carrying  her  Child 
Mds  by  the  hand  the  old  decrepit  Joseph,  whr>  i 


364      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

helping  her,  or  rather  is  helped  by  her,  to  pass 
torrent  on  some  stepping-stones.  This  is  quite  coik 
trary  to  the  feeling  of  the  old  authorities,  whict 
represent  Joseph  as  the  vigilant  and  capable  guai^- 
dian  of  the  M'>ther  and  her  Child ;  but  it  appean 
to  have  here  a  rather  particular  and  touching  sig- 
nificance ;  it  was  painted  by  Vander  Werff  for  his 
daughter  in  his  old  age,  and  intended  to  express 
ber  filial  duty  and  his  paternal  care. 

The  most  beautiful  Flight  into  Egypt  I  have  ever 
seen,  is  a  composition  by  Gaudenzio  Ferrari.  The 
Virgin  is  seated  and  sustained  on  the  ass  with  a  quite 
peculiar  elegance.  The  Infant,  standing  on  her 
knee,  seojns  to  point  out  the  way ;  an  angel  leads 
the  ass,  and  Joseph  follows  with  the  staff*  and  wallet. 
In  the  background  the  palm  tree  inclines  its  branch- 
es.    (At  Varallo,  in  the  church  of  the  Minorites.) 

Claude  has  introduced  the  Flight  of  the  Holy 
Family  as  a  landscape  group  into  nine  different 
pictures. 


THE  REPOSE  OF  THE  HOLY   FAl^THiT. 

UoS.  n  Riposo.    Fr.  Le  Repos  de  la  Salnte  Famille.     Ger.  Dit 
Buhe  in  iBgypten. 

The  subject  generally  styled  a  "  Riposo  **  is  one 
of  the  most  graceful  and  most  attractive  in  the  whole 
range  of  Christian  art.  It  is  not,  however,  an  an- 
cient subject,  for  I  cannot  recall  an  instance  earlief 
Aan  the  sixteenth  century ;  it  had  in  its  accessories 


THX   REPOSE   IN   EGYPT.  864 

ifhat  romantic  and  pastoral  character  which  recom- 
mended it  to  the  Venetians  and  to  the  landscape- 
painters  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  among 
these  we  must  look  for  the  most  successful  and 
beautiful   examples. 

I  must  begin  by  observing  that  it  is  a  subject  not 
only  easily  mistaken  by  those  who  have  studied 
pictures;  but  perpetually  misconceived  and  mis- 
represented by  the  painters  themselves.  Some 
pictures  which  erroneously  bear  this  title,  were 
never  intended  to  do  so.  Others,  intended  to 
represent  the  scene,  are  disfigured  and  perplexed 
by  mistakes  arising  either  from  the  ignorance  or 
the  carelessness  of  the  artist. 

We  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  Riposo,  properly 
80  called,  is  not  merely  the  Holy  Family  seated  in 
a  landscape ;  it  is  an  episode  of  the  Flight  into 
Egypt,  and  is  either  the  rest  on  the  journey,  or  at 
the  close  of  the  journey ;  quite  different  scenes, 
though  all  go  by  the  same  name.  It  is  not  an  ideal 
religious  group,  but  a  reality,  a  possible  and  actual 
scene ;  and  it  is  clear  that  the  painter,  if  he  thought 
at  all,  and  did  not  merely  set  himself  to  fabricate  a 
pretty  composition,  was  restricted  within  the  limits 
of  the  actual  and  possible,  at  least  according  to  the 
histories  and  traditions  of  the  time.  Some  of  the 
accessories  introduced  would  stamp  the  intention  at 
once ;  as  the  date  tree,  and  Joseph  gathering  dates ; 
the  ass  feeding  in  the  distance  ;  the  wallet  and  pil- 
grim's staff  laid  beside  Joseph ;  the  fallen  idols ; 
tibe  Virgin  scooping  water  from  a  fountain ;  for  all 
24 


J66  LEGENDS   OF    THE   MADONNA. 

Chese  are  incidents  which  properly  belong  to  the 
Riposo. 

It  is  nowhere  recorded,  either  in  Scripture  or  in 
the  legendary  stories,  that  Mary  and  Joseph  in  their 
flight  were  accompanied  by  Elizabeth  and  the  little 
St.  John ;  therefore,  where  either  of  these  are  in- 
troduced, the  subject  is  not  properly  a  Riposo^ 
whatever  the  intention  of  the  painter  may  have 
been  :  the  personages  ought  to  be  restricted  to  the 
Virgin,  her  Infant,  and  St.  Joseph,  with  attendant 
angels.  An  old  woman  is  sometimes  introduced, 
the  same  who  is  traditionally  supposed  to  have  ac- 
companied them  in  their  flight.  If  this  old  woman 
be  manifestly  St.  Anna  or  St.  Elizabeth,  then  it  is 
not  a  Riposo,  but  merely  a  Holy  Family, 

It  is  related  that  the  Holy  Family  finally  rested^ 
after  their  long  journey,  in  the  village  of  Matarea, 
beyond  the  city  of  Hermopolis  (or  Heliopolis),  and 
took  up  their  residence  in  a  grove  of  sycamores,  a 
circumstance  which  gave  the  sycamore  tree  a  sort 
of  religious  interest  in  early  Christian  times.  The 
crusaders  imported  it  into  Europe ;  and  poor  Mary 
Stuart  may  have  had  this  idea,  or  this  feeling 
when  she  brought  from  France,  and  planted  in  hei 
garden,  the  first  sycamores  which  grew  in  Scotland 

Near  to  this  village  of  Matarea,  a  fountain  mirac- 
ulously sprung  up  for  the  refreshment  of  the  Hob 
Family.  It  still  exists,  as  we  are  informed  bj 
travellers,  and  is  still  styled  by  the  Arabs,  "  Thf 
Fountain  of  Mary."  *  This  fountain  is  frequently 
*  ThA  dte  of  this  fountain  is  about  four  miles  N.  B.  of  Oalro 


THE   REPOSE   IN   EGYPT.  867 

represented,  as  in  the  well-known  Riposo  by  Cor- 
teggio,  where  the  Virgin  is  dipping  a  bowl  into  the 
gushing  stream,  hence  called  the  "Madonna  del- 
la  Scodella "  (Parma)  :  in  another  by  Baroccio 
(Grosvenor  Gal.),  and  another  by  Domenichino 
(Louvre,  491). 

In  this  fountain,  says  another  legend,  Mary 
washed  the  linen  of  the  Child.  There  are  several 
pictures  which  represent  the  Virgin  washing  hnen 
in  a  fountain  ;  for  example,  one  by  Lucio  Massari, 
where,  in  a  charming  landscape,  the  little  Christ 
takes  the  linen  out  of  a  basket,  and  Joseph  hangs  it 
on  a  line  to  dry.     (JFlorence  Gal.) 

The  ministry  of  the  angels  is  here  not  only  allow- 
able, but  beautifully  appropriate;  and  never  has 
it  been  more  felicitously  and  more  gracefully 
expressed  than  in  a  Httle  composition  by  Lucas 
Cranach,  where  the  Virgin  and  her  Child  repose 
under  a  tree,  while  the  angels  dance  in  a  cir- 
cle round  them.  The  cause  of  the  Flight  —  the 
Massacre  of  the  Innocents  —  is  figuratively  ex- 
pressed by  two  winged  boys,  who,  seated  on  a 
bough  of  the  tree,  are  seen  robbing  a  nest,  and 
wringing  the  necks  of  the  nestlings,  while  the  par- 
ent-birds scream  and  flutter  over  their  heads: 
in  point  of  taste,  this  significant  allegory  had  been 
better  omitted ;  it  spoils  the  harmony  of  composi- 
tion. There  is  another  similar  group,  quite  as 
graceful,  by  David  Hopfer.  Vandyck  seems  to 
have  had  both  in  his  Tuemory  when  he  designed 
^e  very  beautiful  Riposo  so  often  copied  and  en* 


868  LEGENDS   OF   TUE   MADONNA, 

graved  (Coll.  of  Lord  Ashburton) ;  here  the  Vii^ 
gin  is  seated  under  a  tree,  in  an  open  landscape, 
and  holds  her  divine  Child  ;  Joseph,  behind,  seemi 
asleep ;  in  front  of  the  Virgin,  eight  lovely  angeli 
dance  in  a  round,  while  others,  seated  in  the  sky, 
make  heavenly  music. 

In  another  singular  and  charming  E-iposo  by 
Lucas  Cranach,  the  Virgin  and  Child  are  seated 
under  a  tree ;  to  the  left  of  the  group  is  a  fountain, 
where  a  number  of  little  angels  appear  to  be  wash- 
ing linen  ;  to  the  right,  Joseph  approaches  leading 
the  ass,  and  in  the  act  of  reverently  removing  his 
cap. 

There  is  a  Riposo  by  Albert  Durer  which  I  can- 
not pass  over.  It  is  touched  with  all  that  homely 
domestic  feeling,  and  at  the  same  time  all  that  fer- 
tility of  fancy,  which  are  so  characteristic  of  that 
extraordinary  man.  We  are  told  that  when  Jo- 
seph took  up  his  residence  at  Matarea  in  Egypt, 
he  provided  for  his  wife  and  Child  by  exercising 
his  trade  as  a  carpenter.  In  this  composition  he 
appears  in  the  foreground  dressed  as  an  artisan 
with  an  apron  on,  and  with  an  axe  in  his  hand  is 
shaping  a  plank  of  wood.  Mary  sits  on  one  side 
gpinning  with  her  distaff,  and  watching  her  Infant 
Blumbering  in  its  cradle.  Around  this  domestic 
group  we  have  a  crowd  of  ministering  angels 
some  of  these  little  winged  spirits  are  assisting  Jo- 
seph, sweeping  up  the  chips  and  gathering  them 
into  baskets ;  others  are  merely  "  sporting  at  their 
•wn  sweet  will.**     Several  more  dignified-lookinj 


THE   REPOSE   IN   EGYPT.  86i 

angels,  having  the  air  of  guardian  spirits,  stand  or 
kneel  round  the  cradle,  bending  over  it  with  folded 
hands.* 

In  a  Riposo  by  Titian,  the  Infant  lies  on  a  pillow 
on  the  ground,  and  the  Virgin  is  kneeling  before 
him,  while  Joseph  leans  on  his  pilgrims  staff,  to 
which  is  suspended  a  wallet.  In  another,  two  an- 
gels, kneeling,  offer  fruits  in  a  basket ;  in  the  dis- 
tance, a  little  angel  waters  the  ass  at  a  stream, 
(All  these  are  engraved.) 

The  angels,  according  to  the  legend,  not  only 
ministered  to  the  Holy  Family,  but  pitched  a  tent 
nightly,  in  which  they  were  sheltered.  Poussin,  in 
an  exquisite  picture,  has  represented  the  Virgin 
and  Child  reposing  under  a  curtain  suspended 
from  the  branches  of  a  tree  and  partly  sustained 
by  angels,  while  others,  kneeling,  offer  fruit, 
(Grosvenor   Gal.) 

Poussin  is  the  only  painter  who  has  attempted 
to  express  the  locality.  In  one  of  his  pictures  the 
Holy  Family  reposes  on  the  steps  of  an  Egyptian 
temple  ;  a  sphinx  and  a  pyramid  are  visible  in  the 
background.  In  another  RIposo  by  the  same 
master,  an  Ethiopian  boy  presents  fruits  to  the 
Infant  Christ.  Joseph  e  frequently  asleep,  which 
'is  hardly  consonant  with  the  spirit  of  the  older 
legends.  It  is,  howev»3r,  a  beautiful  idea  to  make 
the  Child  and  Joseph  both  reposing,  while  the 
Virgin  Mother,  with  eyes  upra'sed  to  heaven, 
Vakes  and  watches,  as    in   a   picture    by  Mola 

*  In  the  femous  E«t  of  wood  cuts  of  the  Life  of  the  Virgin  Mwy 


•  70      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

(Louvre,  269) ;  but  a  yet  more  beautiful  idea  ta 
represent  the  Virgin  and  Joseph  sunk  in  sleep, 
while  the  divine  Infant  lying  in  his  mother's  arms 
wakes  and  watches  for  both,  with  his  little  hands 
joined  in  prayer,  and  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  hover- 
ing angels  or  the  opening  skies  above. 

In  a  Riposo  by  Rembrandt,  the  Holy  Family 
i«st  by  night,  and  are  illuminated  only  by  a  lan- 
tern suspended  on  the  bough  of  a  tree,  the  whole 
group  having  much  the  air  of  a  gypsy  encampment 
But  one  of  Rembrandt's  imitators  has  in  his  own 
way  improved  on  this  fancy :  the  Virgin  sleeps  on 
a  bank  with  the  Child  on  her  bosom ;  Joseph,  who 
looks  extremely  like  an  old  tinker,  is  doubling  his 
fist  at  the  ass,  which  has  opened  its  mouth  to 
bray. 


Before  quitting  the  subject  of  the  Riposo,  I  must 
mention  a  very  pretty  and  poetical  legend,  which 
I  have  met  with  in  one  picture  only ;  a  description 
of  it  may,  however,  lead  to  the  recognition  of 
others. 

There  is,  in  the  collection  of  Lord  Shrewsbury,  at 
Alton  Towers,  a  Riposo  attributed  to  Giorgione,  re- 
markable equally  for  the  beauty  and  the  singularity 
of  the  treatment.  The  Holy  Family  are  seated  in 
the  midst  of  a  wild  but  rich  landscape,  quite  in  the 
Venetian  style  ;  Joseph  is  asleep ;  the  two  children 
ire  playing  vnth  a  lamb.  The  Virgin,  seated 
holds  a  book,  and  turns  round,  with  an  expressioi 


THE   REPOSE   IN   EGYPT.  871 

nf  surprise  and  alarm,  to  a  female  figure  who 
utands  on  the  right.  This  woman  has  a  dark  phys- 
iognomy, ample  flowing  drapery  of  red  and  white, 
a  white  turban  twisted  round  her  head,  and 
Btretches  out  her  hand  with  the  air  oC  a  sibyL 
The  explanation  of  this  striking  group  I  found  in 
an  old  ballad-legend.  Every  one  who  has  studied 
the  moral  as  well  as  the  technical  character  of  the 
various  schools  of  art,  must  have  remarked  how  of- 
ten the  Venetians  (and  Giorgione  more  especially) 
painted  groups  from  the  popular  fictions  and  ballada 
of  the  time;  and  it  has  often  been  regretted  that 
many  of  these  pictures  are  becoming  unintelligible 
to  us  from  our  having  lost  the  key  to  them,  in  losing 
all  trace  of  the  fugitive  poems  or  tales  which  sug- 
gested them. 

The  religious  ballad  I  allude  to  must  have  been 
popular  in  the  sixteenth  century ;  it  exists  in  the 
Provencal  dialect,  in  German,  and  in  Italian ;  and, 
like  the  wild  ballad  of  St.  John  Chrysostom,  it  prob- 
ably came  in  some  form  or  other  from  the  East. 
The  theme  is,  in  all  these  versions,  substantially  the 
same.  The  Virgin,  on  her  arrival  in  Egypt,  is 
encountered  by  a  gypsy  (Zingara  or  Zingarella), 
who  crosses  the  Child's  palm  after  the  gypsy  man- 
ner, and  foretells  all  the  wonderful  and  terrible 
things  which,  as  the  Redeemer  of  mankind,  he  was 
destined  to  perform  and  endure  on  earth. 

An  Italian  version  which  lies  before  me  is  en- 
titled, Canzonetta  nuova,  sopra  la  Madonna,  quando 
•i  partd  in  Egitto  col   Bambino  Gesu  e  San  Giw 


572  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MADONMA. 

teppe,  "  A  new  Ballad  of  our  Lady,  when  sh« 
fled  into  Egypt  with  the  Child  Jesus  and  St 
Joseph." 

It  begins  with  a  conversation  between  the  Virgin, 
*rho  has  just  arrived  from  her  long  journey,  ana 
Ifae  gypsy- woman,  who  thus  salutes  her :  — 

ZlNOABELLA. 

Dio  ti  salvi,  bella  Signora, 
E  ti  dia  buona  ventura. 
Ben  venuto,  vecchiarello, 
Con  questo  bambino  bello  I 

Madonna. 
Ben  trovata,  sorella  mla, 
La  sua  grazia  Dio  ti  dia. 
Ti  perdoni  i  tuoi  peccati 
L*  infinite  sua  bontade. 

ZiNOARELLA. 

Siete  stanchi  e  meschini, 
Credo,  poveri  peUegrini 
Che  cercate  d'  alloggiare. 
Vuoi,  Signora,  scavalcare  7 

Madonna. 
Voi  che  siete,  sorella  mia, 
Tutta  piena  di  cortesia, 
Dio  vi  renda  la  caritk 
Per  r  infinitk  sua  bontk. 
Noi  veniam  da  Nazaretto, 
Siamo  senza  alcun  ricetto, 
Arrivati  all'  stran'a 
Stanchi  e  iassi  dalla  vial 


THE   REPOSE   IN   EGYPT.  S7J 

Gypst. 

God  save  thee,  fair  Lady,  and  give  thee  good  luck> 
iVelcome,  good  old  man,  with  this  thy  fair  Child  I 

Maky. 
Well  met,  sister  mine  I    God  give  thee  grace,  and  ol 
his  infinite  mercy  forgive  thee  thy  sins! 

Gypsy. 

Ye  are  tired  and  drooping,  poor  pilgrims,  as  I  think, 
seeking  a  night's  lodging.  Lady,  wilt  thou  choose  to 
aUght? 

Mary. 

O  sister  mine  I  fiill  of  courtesy,  God  of  his  infinite  good- 
ness reward  thee  for  thy  charitj'-.  We  are  come  firom 
Nazareth,  and  we  are  without  a  place  to  lay  our  heads, 
arrived  in  a  strange  land,  all  tired  and  weaiy  with  the 
way  I 

The  Zingarella  then  offers  them  a  resting-place, 
and  straw  and  fodder  for  the  ass,  which  being  ac- 
cepted, she  asks  leave  to  tell  their  fortune,  but 
begins  by  recounting,  in  about  thirty  stanzas,  all 
the  past  history  of  the  Virgin  pilgrim;  she  then 
asks  to  see  the  Child  — 


Ora  tu,  Signora  mia^ 
Che  sei  plena  di  cortesia, 
Mostramelo  per  favore 
Lo  tuo  Figlio  Eedentore  I 


And  now,  0  Lady  mine,  that  art  full  of  ooiutesyi  gnml 
IM  to  look  upon  thy  Son,  the  Redeemer  I 


174  LEGENDS    OF    THE   MADONNA. 

The  Virgin  takes  him  from  the  arms  of  Joseph-^ 

Datemi,  o  caro  sposo, 
Lo  mio  Figlio  grazioso  I 
Quando  il  vide  sta  meschina 
Zingarella,  che  indovina  I 

Give  me,  dear  husband,  my  lovely  boy,  that  this  poof 
gypsy,  who  is  a  prophetess,  may  look  upon  him. 

The  gypsy  responds  with  becoming  admiration 
and  humility,  praises  the  beauty  of  the  Child,  and 
then  proceeds  to  examine  his  palm ;  which  having 
done,  she  breaks  forth  into  a  prophecy  of  all  the 
awful  future,  tells  how  he  would  be  baptized,  and 
tempted,  scourged,  and  finally  hung  upon  a  cross — - 

Questo  Figlio  accarezzato 
Tu  lo  vedrai  ammazzato 
Sopra  d'  una  dura  croce, 
Figlio  hello  1  Figlio  dolce  1 

but  consoles  the  disconsolate  Mother,  doomed  to 
honour  for  the  sake  of  us  sinners  — 

Sei  arrivata  a  tanti  onori 
Per  noi  altri  Peccatori  I 

vnd  ends  1:  y  begging  an  alms  — 

Non  ti  vo*  piti  infastidire, 
Bella  Signora;  so  ch*  hai  a  fiuo. 
Dona  la  limosinella 
A  sta  povera  Zingarella 


TUE  RETURN  FROM  EGYPT.       S7h 

But  not  alms  of  gold  or  of  silver,  but  the  gift  of 
tarue  repentance  and  eternal  life. 

Vo'  una  vera  contrizione 
Per  la  tua  intercezione, 
Accio  st'  alma  dopo  morte 
Tragga  alle  celesti  porte ! 

4.nd  so  the  story  ends. 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  I  think,  that  we  have 
here  the  original  theme  of  Giorgione's  picture,  snd 
perhaps  of  others. 

In  the  Proven9al  ballad,  there  are  three  gypsies, 
men,  not  women,  introduced,  who  tell  the  fortune  of 
the  Virgin  and  Joseph,  as  well  as  that  of  the  Child, 
and  end  by  begging  alms  "  to  wet  their  thirsty 
throats.**  Of  this  version  there  is  a  very  spirited 
and  characteristic  translation  by  Mr.  Kenyon,  un- 
der the  title  of  "  a  Gypsy  Carol."  * 


THE  RETUKN  FROM  EGYPT. 

According  to  some  authorities,  the  Holy  Family 
Bojoumed  in  Egypt  during  a  period  of  seven  years, 
but  others  assert  that  they  returned  to  Judea  at  the 
end  of  two  years. 

In  general  the  painters  have  expressed  the  Re- 
turn from  Egypt  by  exhibiting  Jesus  as  no  longer 
KD.  infant  sustained  in  his  mother's  arms,  but  as  a 
W)y  walking  at  her  side.  In  a  picture  by  Francesco 
^  ▲  Day  at  Tiyoli,  with  other  Verses,  by  John  Kenyon,  p.  149 


576  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MADONNA. 

Vanni,  he  is  a  boy  about  two  or  three  years  old, 
and  carries  a  Kttle  basket  full  of  carpenter's  tools. 
The  occasion  of  the  Flight  and  Return  is  indicated 
by  three  or  four  of  the  martyred  Innocents,  who 
are  lying  on  the  ground.  In  a  picture  by  Do- 
menico  Feti  two  of  the  Innocents  are  lying  dead 
on  the  roadside.  In  a  very  graceful,  animated 
picture  by  Rubens,  Mary  and  Joseph  lead  the 
young  Christ  between  them,  and  the  Virgin  wean 
•  large  straw  hat 


HISTORICAL    SUBJECTS. 


PART  ni. 

ITHE  LIFE  OF  THE  VIRGIN  MARY  FROM 
THE  SOJOURN  IN  EGYPT  TO  THE 
CRUCIFIXION  OF  OUR  LORD. 

1.  THE  HOLY  FAMILY.  2.  THE  VIRGIN  SEEKS 
HER  SON.  8.  THE  DEATH  OF  JOSEPH.  4.  THE 
MARRIAGE  AT  CANA.  6.  "  LO  SPASIMO."  6.  THE 
CRUCIFIXION.  7.  THE  DESCENT  FROM  THE 
CROSS.  8.  THE  ENTOMBMENT. 

THE  HOLY  FAMILY. 

When  the  Holy  Family  under  divine  protection, 
had  returned  safely  from  their  sojourn  in  Egypt, 
they  were  about  to  repair  to  Bethlehem ;  but  Jo- 
eeph  hearing  that  Archelaus  "  did  reign  in  Judea 
m  the  room  of  his  father  Herod,  he  was  afraid  to 
go  thither ;  and  being  warned  of  God  in  a  dream, 
he  turned  aside  into  Galilee,'*  and  came  to  the  city 
of  Nazareth,  which  was  the  native  place  and  home 
of  the  Virgin  Mary.  Here  Joseph  dwelt,  following 
in  peace  his  trade  of  a  carpenter,  and  bringing  up 
his  reputed  Son  to  the  same  craft :  and  here  Mary 
nurtured  her  divine  Child ;  "  and  he  grew  and 
waxed  strong  in  spirit,  and  the  grace  of  God  wai 


978      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

upon  him.**    No  other  event  Is  recorded  until  Jesui 
had  reached  his  twelfth  year. 


This,  then,  is  the  proper  place  to  introduce  some 
notice  of  those  representations  of  the  domestic  life 
of  the  Virgin  and  the  infancy  of  the  Saviour,  which, 
in  all  their  endless  variety,  pass  under  the  general 
title  of  The  Holy  Family  —  the  beautiful  title 
of  a  beautiful  subject,  addressed  in  the  loveliest 
and  most  familiar  form  at  once  to  the  piety  and  the 
affections  of  the  beholder. 

These  groups,  so  numerous,  and  of  such  perpet- 
ual recurrence,  that  they  alone  form  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  contents  of  picture  galleries  and  the 
ornaments  of  churches,  are,  after  all,  a  modern  in- 
novation in  sacred  art.  What  may  be  called  the 
domestic  treatment  of  the  history  of  the  Virgin  can- 
not be  traced  farther  back  than  the  middle  of  the 
fifteenth  century.  It  Is,  indeed,  common  to  class 
all  those  pictures  as  Holy  Families  which  Include 
any  of  the  relatives  of  Christ  grouped  with  the 
Mother  and  her  Child ;  but  I  must  here  recapitu- 
late and  Insist  upon  the  distinction  to  be  drawn  be- 
tween the  domestic  and  the  devotional  treatment 
of  the  subjact ;  a  distinction  I  have  been  careful 
to  keep  in  view  throughout  the  whole  range  of 
lacred  art,  and  which,  in  this  particular  subject^ 
depends  on  a  difference  in  sentiment  and  inteo' 
feion,  more  easily  felt  than  set  down  in  words. 

It  18, 1  must  repeat,  a  devotional  group  whei^  dii 


THE    HOLY   FAMILY.  8 71 

sacred  personages  are  placed  in  direct  relation  to  the 
worshippers,  and  where  their  supernatural  character 
is  paramount  to  every  other.  It  is  a  domestic  or  an 
historical  group,  a  Holy  Family  properly  so  called, 
when  the  personages  are  placed  in  direct  relation 
to  each  other  by  some  link  of  action  or  sentiment, 
which  expresses  the  family  connection  between 
them,  or  by  some  action  which  has  a  dramatic 
rather  than  a  religious  significance.  The  Italian*" 
draw  this  distinction  in  the  title  "  Sacra  Conversa- 
zione "  given  to  the  first-named  subject,  and  that  of 
"  Sacra  Famiglia  "  given  to  the  last.  For  instance, 
if  the  Virgin,  watching  her  sleeping  Child,  puts 
her  finger  on  her  lip  to  silence  the  little  St.  John  ; 
there  is  here  no  relation  between  the  spectator  and 
the  persons  represented,  except  that  of  unbidden 
sympathy :  it  is  a  family  group  ;  a  domestic  scene. 
But  if  St.  John,  looking  out  of  the  picture,  points 
to  the  Infant,  "  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  ! "  then 
the  whole  representation  changes  its  significance; 
St.  John  assumes  the  character  of  precursor,  and 
we,  the  spectators,  are  directly  addressed  and  called 
upon  to  acknowledge  the  "  Son  of  God,  the  Saviour 
of  mankind." 

If  St.  Joseph,  kneeling,  presents  flowers  to  the 
Infant  Christ,  while  Mary  looks  on  tenderly  (as  in 
a  group  by  Raphael),  it  is  an  act  of  homage  which 
expresses  the  mutual  relation  of  the  three  person 
ages ;  it  is  a  Holy  Family :  whereas,  in  the  picture 
by  Murillo,  in  our  National  Gallery,  where  Joseph 
»nd  Mary  present  the  young  Redeemer  to  the  hom 


580  LEGENDS   OF   THB    MADONNA. 

age  of  the  spectator,  while  the  form  of  the  Padrr 
Eterno,  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  with  attendant 
angels,  are  floating  above,  we  have  a  devotional 
group,  a  "  Sacra  Conversazione : "  —  it  is,  in  fact, 
a  material  representation  of  the  Trinity ;  and  thr^ 
introduction  of  Joseph  into  such  immediate  propin- 
quity with  the  personages  acknowledged  as  divine 
is  one  of  the  characteristics  of  the  later  schools  of 
theological  art.  It  could  not  possibly  have  occurred 
before  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  or  the  beginning  of 
the  seventeenth  century. 

The  introduction  of  persons  who  could  not  have 
been  contemporary,  as  St.  Francis  or  St.  Cathe- 
rine, renders  the  group  ideal  and  devotional.  On 
the  other  hand,  as  I  have  already  observed,  the  in- 
troduction of  attendant  angels  does  not  place  the 
subject  out  of  the  domain  of  the  actual ;  for  the 
painters  literally  rendered  what  in  the  Scripture 
text  is  distinctly  set  down  and  literally  interpreted, 
"  He  shall  give  his  angels  charge  concerning  thee.** 
Wherever  lived  and  moved  the  Infant  Godhead, 
angels  were  always  supposed  to  be  present ;  there- 
fore it  lay  within  the  province  of  an  art  addressed 
especially  to  our  senses,  to  place  them  bodily  before 
us,  and  to  give  to  these  heavenly  attendants  a  visi- 
ble shape  and  bearing  worthy  of  their  blessed  min- 
istry. 

The  devotional  groups,  of  which  I  have  already 
treated  most  fully,  even  while  placed  by  the  acce* 
Bories  quite  beyond  the  range  of  actual  life,  have  been 
too  oflen  vulgarized  and  formalized  by  a  trivia)  or 


THE   HOLY   FAMILY.  881 

merely  conventional  treatment.*  In  these  really 
domestic  scenes,  where  the  painter  sought  unre- 
proved  his  models  in  simple  nature,  and  trusted 
for  his  effect  to  what  was  holiest  and  most  immuta- 
ble in  our  common  humanity,  he  must  have  been  a 
bungler  indeed  if  he  did  not  succeed  In  touching 
iome  responsive  chord  of  sympathy  in  the  bosom 
of  the  observer.  This  is,  perhaps,  the  secret  of  the 
universal,  and,  in  general,  deserved  popularity  oi 
these  Holy  Families. 


TWO  FIGURES. 

The  simplest  form  of  the  family  group  is  confined 
to  two  figures,  and  expresses  merely  the  relation 
between  the  Mother  and  the  Child.  The  motif  ia 
precisely  the  same  as  in  the  formal,  goddess-like, 
enthroned  Madonnas  of  the  antique  time ;  but  here 
quite  otherwise  worked  out,  and  appealing  to  other 
sympathies.  In  the  first  instance,  the  intention  was 
to  assert  the  contested  pretensions  of  the  human 
mother  to  divine  honours ;  here  it  was  rather  to 
assert  the  humanity  of  her  divine  Son;  and  we 
have  before  us,  in  the  simplest  form,  the  first  and 
holiest  of  all  the  social  relations. 

The  primal  instinct,  as  the  first  duty,  of  the 
mother,  is  the  nourishment  of  the  life  she  has  given. 
A  very  common  subject,  therefore,  is  Mary  in  the 

*  See  the  "  Mater  Amabilis  "  and  the  "  Pastoral  MadoDDaa,** 
ft.  229. 289. 

25 


S82  LEGENDS    OF   THE    MADONNA. 

act  of  feeding  her  Child  from  her  bosom.  I  have 
already  observed  that,  when  first  adopted,  this  was 
a  theological  theme  ;  an  answer,  in  form,  to  the 
challenge  of  the  Nestorians,  "  Shall  we  call  him 
God,  who  hath  sucked  his  mother's  breast  ?  "  Then, 
and  for  at  least  500  years  afterwards,  the  simple 
maternal  action  involved  a  religious  dogma,  and 
was  the  visible  exponent  of  a  controverted  article 
of  faith.  All  such  controversy  had  long  ceased, 
and  certainly  there  was  no  thought  of  insisting  on 
a  point  of  theology  in  the  minds  of  those  secular 
painters  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries, 
who  have  set  forth  the  representation  with  such 
an  affectionate  and  delicate  grace ;  nor  yet  in  the 
minds  of  those  who  converted  the  lovely  group  into 
a  moral  lesson.  For  example,  we  find  in  the  works 
of  Jeremy  Taylor  (one  of  the  lights  of  our  Prot- 
estant Church)  a  long  homily  "  Of  nursing  chil- 
dren, in  imitation  of  the  blessed  Virgin  Mother ; " 
and  prints  and  pictures  of  the  Virgin  thus  occupied 
often  bear  significant  titles  and  inscriptions  of  the 
same  import;  such  as  "Le  premier  devoir  d'une 
m^re,"  &c. 

I  do  not  find  this  motif  in  any  known  picture  by 
Raphael ;  but  in  one  of  his  designs,  engraved  by 
Marc  Antonio,  it  is  represented  with  characteristic 
grace  and  delicacy. 

Goethe  describes  with  delight  a  picture  by  Cor- 
reggio,  in  which  the  attention  of  the  Child  seenu 
divided  between  the  bosom  of  his  mother,  and  some 
(ruit  offered  by  an  angel.     He  calls  this  subjeol 


THE   HOLY    FAMILY.  888 

*  The  Weaning  of  the  Infant  Christ."  Correggio, 
if  not  the  very  first,  is  certainly  among  the  first  of 
tho  Italians  who  treated  this  motif  in  the  simple 
domestic  style.  Others  of  the  Lombard  school  fol- 
lowed him  ;  and  I  know  not  a  more  exquisite  ex- 
ample than  the  maternal  group  by  Solario,  now  in 
the  Louvre,  styled  La  Vierge  a  VOreiller  verd,  from 
the  colour  of  the  pillow  on  which  the  Child  is  lying. 
The  subject  is  frequent  in  the  contemporary  Ger- 
man and  Flemish  schools  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
In  the  next  century,  there  are  charming  examples 
by  the  Bologna  painters  and  the  Naturalistic  Span- 
ish, Italian,  and  Flemish.  I  would  particularly 
point  to  one  by  Agostino  Caracci  (Parma),  and 
to  another  by  Yandyck  (that  engraved  by  Barto- 
lozzi),  as  examples  of  elegance ;  while  in  the  nu- 
merous specimens  by  Rubens  we  have  merely  his 
own  wife  and  son,  painted  with  all  that  coarse 
vigorous  life,  and  homely  affectionate  expression, 
which  his  own  strong  domestic  feelings  could  lend 
them. 

We  have  in  other  pictures  the  relation  between 
the  Mother  and  Child  expressed  and  varied  in  a 
thousand  ways ;  as  where  she  contemplates  him 
fondly  —  kisses  him,  pressing  his  cheeks  to  hers ; 
or  they  sport  with  a  rose,  or  an  apple,  or  a  bird ; 
or  he  presents  it  to  his  mother;  these  originally 
mystical  emblems  being  converted  into  playthings. 
In  another  sketch  she  is  amusing  him  by  tinkling  a 
bell :  — the  bell,  whi?h  has  a  religious  significance, 
0  here  a  plaything.    One  >r  more  attendant  angelu 


184  LEGENDS   OF   THE   MADONNA. 

may  vary  the  group,  without  taking  it  out  of  the 
Bphere  of  reality.  In  a  quaint  but  charming  pic- 
ture in  the  Wallerstein  Collection,  an  angel  ia 
sporting  with  the  Child  at  his  mother's  feet — • 
is  literally  his  playfellow;  and  in  a  picture  by 
Cambiaso,  Mary,  assisted  by  an  angel,  is  teach 
ing  her  Child  to  walk. 

To  represent  in  the  great  enthroned  Madonnas, 
the  Infant  Saviour  of  the  world  asleep,  has  always 
appeared  to  me  a  solecism :  whereas  in  the  domes- 
tic subject,  the  Infant  slumbering  on  his  mother's 
knee,  or  cradled  in  her  arms,  or  on  her  bosom,  or 
rocked  by  angels,  is  a  most  charming  subject  Some 
times  angels  are  seen  preparing  his  bed,  or  looking 
on  while  he  sleeps,  with  folded  hands  and  overshad- 
owing wings.  Sometimes  Mary  hangs  over  his  pil- 
low, "  pondering  in  her  heart "  the  wondrous  des- 
tinies of  her  Child.  A  poetess  of  our  own  time  has 
given  us  an  interpretation  worthy  of  the  most  beau^ 
tiful  of  these  representations,  in  the  address  of 
the  Virgin  Mary  to  the  Child  Jesus,  — "  Sh  ep 
sleep,  mine  Holy  One  I  ** 

*^And  are  thou  come  for  saving,  baby-browed 
And  speechless  Being?  art  thou  come  for  saving? 
The  palm  that  grows  beside  our  door  is  bowed 
By  treadings  of  the  low  wind  from  the  south, 
A  restless  shadow  through  the  chamber  waving. 
Upon  its  bough  a  bird  sings  in  the  sun. 
But  thou,  with  that  close  slumber  on  thy  moatht 
DoBt  seem  of  wind  and  sun  already  weary. 
Art  come  for  saving,  0  my  weary  One? 


THE    HOLY   FAMILY.  381 

•Perchance  ttis  sleep  that  shutteth  ant  the  dreary 
Earth-sounds  and  motions,  opens  on  thy  soul 

High  dreams  on  fire  with  God ; 
High  songs  that  make  the  pathways  where  they  roll 
More  bright  than  stars  do  theirs ;  and  visions  new 
Of  thine  eternal  nature's  old  abode. 

Suffer  this  mother's  kiss, 

Best  thing  that  earthly  is, 
To  glide  the  music  and  the  glory  through, 
Nor  narrow  in  thy  dream  the  broad  upliftings 

Of  any  seraph  wing. 
Thus,  noiseless,  thus ! — Sleep,  sleep,  mydreaming  One."* 

Such  high  imaginings  might  be  suggested  by  the 
group  of  Michael  Angelo, — his  famous  "Silenzio:" 
but  very  different  certainly  are  the  thoughts  and 
associations  conveyed  by  some  of  the  very  lovely, 
but  at  the  same  time  familiar  and  commonplace, 
groups  of  peasant-mothers  and  sleeping  babies  — 
the  countless  productions  of  the  later  schools  — 
even  while  the  simplicity  and  truth  of  the  natural 
sentiment  go  straight  to  the  heart. 

I  remember  reading  a  little  Italian  hymn  com- 
posed for  a  choir  of  nuns,  and  addressed  to  the 
sleeping  Christ,  in  which  he  is  prayed  to  awake 
or  if  he  will  not,  they  threaten  to  pull  him  by  his 
golden  curls  until  they  rouse  him  to  listen  I 

I  have  seen  a  graceful  print  which  represent! 

Jesus  as  a  child  standing  at  his   mother's  knee, 

Ivhile  she  feeds  him  from  a  plate  or  cup  held  by  ao 

%ngel ;  underneath  is  the  text,  "  Butter  and  hone$ 

*  Poems  by  Elizabeth  Barretf  Browning,  vol  ii.  p.  174 


586  LEGENDS   OF   THE   MADONNA. 

ihall  Tie  eat,  that  he  may  know  to  refuse  the  evil  and 
choose  the  good."  And  in  a  print  of  the  same 
period,  the  mother  suspends  her  needlework  to 
contemplate  the  Child,  who,  standing  at  her  side, 
looks  down  compassionately  on  two  little  birds, 
which  flutter  their  wings  and  open  their  beaka 
expectingly ;  underneath  is  the  text,  "  Are  not 
two  sparrows  sold  for  a  farthing?" 

Mary  employed  in  needlework,  while  her  cra- 
dled Infant  slumbers  at  her  side,  is  a  beautiful 
subject.  Rossini,  in  his  Storia  delta  Pittura,  pub- 
lishes a  group,  representing  the  Virgin  mending  or 
making  a  little  coat,  while  Jesus,  seated  at  her  feet 
without  his  coat,  is  playing  with  a  bird  ;  two  angels 
are  hovering  above.  It  appears  to  me  that  there 
is  here  some  uncertainty  as  regards  both  the  subject 
and  the  master.  In  the  time  of  Giottino,  to  whom 
Rossini  attributes  the  picture,  the  domestic  treat- 
ment of  the  Madonna  and  Child  was  unknown. 
If  it  be  really  by  him,  I  should  suppose  it  to  rep- 
resent Hannah  and  her  son  Samuel. 

All  these,  and  other  varieties  of  action  and  sen- 
timent connecting  the  Mother  and  her  Child,  arc 
frequently  accompanied  by  accessory  figures,  form- 
ing, in  their  combination,  what  is  properly  a  Holy 
Family.  The  personages  introduced,  singly  or  to« 
gether,  are  the  young  St.  John,  Joseph,  Anna 
Joachim,  Elizabeth,   and   Zacharias. 


THE  HOLY  FAMILY.  881 


THREE  FIGURES. 


The  group  of  three  figures  most  commonly  met 
with,  is  that  of  the  Mother  and  Child,  with  St. 
John.  One  of  the  earliest  examples  of  the  do- 
oaestic  treatment  of  this  group  is  a  quaint  picture 
by  Botticelli,  in  which  Mary,  bending  down,  holds 
forth  the  Child  to  be  caressed  by  St.  John,  —  very 
dry  in  colour  and  faulty  in  drawing,  but  beautiful 
for  the  sentiment.  (Florence,  Pitti  Pal.)  Perhaps 
the  most  perfect  example  which  could  be  cited  from 
the  whole  range  of  art,  is  Raphael's  "  Madonna 
del  Cardellino "  (Florence  Gal.) ;  another  is  his 
"Belle  Jardiniere'*  (Louvre,  375);  another,  in 
which  the  figures  are  half-length,  is  his  "  Madonna 
del  Giglio"  (Lord  Garvagh's  Coll.).  As  I  have 
already  observed,  where  the  Infant  Christ  takes 
the  cross  from  St.  John,  or  presents  it  to  him,  or 
where  St.  John  points  to  him  as  the  Redeemer,  or 
is  represented,  not  as  a  child,  but  as  a  youth  or  a 
man,  the  composition  assumes  a  devotional  signifi- 
cance. 

The  suDjeci  of  the  Sleeping  Christ  is  beautifully 
varied  by  the  introduction  of  St.  John ;  as  where 
Mary  lifts  the  veil  and  shows  her  Child  to  the  little 
St.  John,  kneeling  with  folded  hands :  Raphael's 
well-known  "  Vierge  h  la  Diademe  "  is  an  instance 
replete  with  grace  and  expression.*  Sometimes 
Mary,  putting  her  finger  to  her  lip,  exhorts  St 
•  LouTre,  876.    It  is  also  sty'^ed  la  Vierge  au  Ling* 


388  LEGENDS   OF    THE   MADONNA. 

John  io  silence,  as  in  a  famous  and  oft-repeated 
Bubject  by  Annibale  Caracci,  of  which  there  is  a 
lOvely  example  at  Windsor.  Such  a  group  is  called 
in  Italian,  U  Silenzio,  and  in  French  le  Sommeil  de 
Jesus. 

Another  group  of  three  figures  consists  of  the 
Mother,  the  Child,  and  St.  Joseph  as  foster-father. 
This  group,  so  commonly  met  with  in  the  later 
schools  of  art,  dates  from  the  end  of  the  fifteenth 
century.  Gerson,  an  ecclesiastic  distinguished  at 
the  Council  of  Constance  for  his  learning  and  elo- 
quence, had  written  a  poem  of  three  thousand  lines 
in  praise  of  St.  Joseph,  setting  him  up  as  the  Chris- 
tian example  of  every  virtue ;  and  this  poem,  after 
the  invention  of  printing,  was  published  and  widely 
disseminated.  Sixtus  IV.  instituted  a  festival  in 
honour  of  the  "  Husband  of  the  Virgin,"  which,  as 
a  novelty  and  harmonizing  with  the  tone  of  popular 
feeling,  was  everywhere  acceptable.  As  a  natural 
consequence,  the  churches  and  chapels  were  filled 
with  pictures,  which  represented  the  Mother  and 
her  Child,  with  Joseph  standing  or  seated  by,  in  an 
attitude  of  religious  contemplation  or  affectionate 
sympathy ;  sometimes  leaning  on  his  stick,  or  with 
his  tools  lying  beside  him ;  and  always  in  the  old 
pictures  habited  in  his  appropriate  colours,  the 
saffron-coloured  robe  over  the  gray  or  green 
tunic. 

In  the  Madonna  and  Child,  as  a  strictly  devo* 
ional  subject,  the  introduction  of  Joseph  rathe; 


THE   HOLY   FAMILY.  d8f 

Bompiicatea  the  idea;  but  in  the  domestic  Holy 
Family  his  presence  is  natural  and  necessary,  li 
is  seldom  that  he  is  associated  with  the  action, 
where  there  is  one ;  but  of  this  also  there  are  some 
beautiful  examples. 

1.  In  a  well-known  composition  by  Raphael 
(Grosvenor  Gal.),  the  mother  withdraws  the  cov- 
ering from  the  Child,  who  seems  to  have  that 
moment  awaked,  and,  stretching  out  his  little  arms, 
smiles  in  her  face :  Joseph  looks  on  tenderly  and 
thoughtfully. 

2.  In  another  group  by  Raphael  (Bridgewater 
Gal.),  the  Infant  is  seated  on  the  mother*s  knee, 
and  sustained  by  part  of  her  veil ;  Joseph,  kneel* 
ing,  offers  flowers  to  his  divine  foster-Son,  who 
eagerly  stretches  out  his  little  hand  to  take  them. 

In  many  pictures,  Joseph  is  seen  presenting 
cherries ;  as  in  the  celebrated  Vierge  aux  Cerises 
of  Annibale  Caracci.  (Louvre.)  The  aUusion  is  to 
a  quaint  old  legend,  often  introduced  in  the  relig* 
ious  ballads  and  dramatic  mysteries  of  the  time. 
It  is  related,  that  before  the  birth  of  our  Saviour, 
the  Virgin  Mary  wished  to  taste  of  certain  cher- 
ries which  hung  upon  a  tree  high  above  her  head ; 
ghe  requested  Joseph  to  procure  them  for  her,  and 
he  reaching  to  pluck  them,  the  branch  bowed  down 
to  his  hand. 

8.  There  is  a  lovely  pastoral  composition  by 
Titian,  in  which  Mary  is  seated  under  sonae  trees, 
m\\h  Joseph  leaning  on  his  staff,  and  the  Infant 


590  LEGENDS   OF    THE    MADONNA. 

Christ  standing  between  them :  the  little  St.  Johq 
approaches  with  his  lap  full  of  cherries;  and  in 
the  background  a  woman  is  seen  gathering  cher« 
ries.  This  picture  is  called  a  Riposo;  but  the 
presence  of  St.  John,  and  the  cherry  tree  instead 
of  the  date  tree,  point  out  a  different  signification. 
Angels  presenting  cherries  on  a  plate  is  also  a 
frequent  circumstance,  derived  from  the  same  le- 
gend. 

4.  In  a  charming  picture  by  Garofalo,  Joseph  is 
caressing  the  Child,  while  Mary  —  a  rather  full 
figure,  calm,  matronly,  and  dignified,  as  is  usual 
with  Garofalo  —  sits  by,  holding  a  book  in  her 
hand,  from  which  she  has  just  raised  her  eyes. 
(Windsor  Gal.) 

5.  In  a  family  group  by  Murillo,  Joseph,  stand- 
ing, holds  the  Infant  pressed  to  his  bosom ;  while 
Mary,  seated  near  a  cradle,  holds  out  her  arms  to 
take  it  from  him :  a  carpenter's  bench  is  seen  be- 
hind. 

6.  A  celebrated  picture  by  Rembrandt,  known 
as  le  Menage  du  Menuisier,  exhibits  a  rustic  inte- 
rior ;  the  Virgin  is  seated  with  the  volume  of  the 
Scriptures  open  on  her  knees  —  she  turns,  and  lift- 
ing the  coverlid  of  the  cradle,  contemplates  the 
Infant  asleep:  in  the  background  Joseph  is  seen 
at  his  work ;  while  angels  hover  above,  keeping 
watch  over  the  Holy  Family.  Exquisite  for  the 
homely  natural  sentiment,  and  the  depth  of  the 
wlour  and  chiaro-oscuro.     (Petersburg.) 

T    Many  who  read  these  pages  will  remembei 


THE    HOLY   FAMILY.  891 

die  pretty  little  picture  by  Annibale  Caracci,  known 
as  "  le  Raboteur."*  It  represents  Joseph  planing 
a  board,  while  Jesus,  a  lovely  boy  about  six  o* 
seven  years  old,  stands  by,  watching  the  progress 
of  his  work.  Mary  is  seated  on  one  side  plying 
her  needle.  The  grea/^  fault  of  this  picture  is  the 
subordinate  and  utterly  commonplace  character 
given  to  the  Virgin  Mother :  otherwise  it  is  a  very 
suggestive  and  dramatic  subject,  and  one  which 
might  be  usefully  engraved  in  a  cheap  form  for 
distribution. 

Sometimes,  in  a  Holy  Family  of  three  figures,  the 
third  figure  is  neither  St.  John  nor  St.  Joseph,  but 
St.  Anna.  Now,  according  to  some  early  authori- 
ties, both  Joachim  and  Anna  died  either  before  the 
marriage  of  Mary  and  Joseph,  or  at  least  before 
the  return  from  Egypt.  Such,  however,  was  the 
popularity  of  these  family  groups,  and  the  desire  to 
give  them  all  possible  variety,  that  the  ancient  ver- 
sion of  the  story  was  overruled  by  the  prevaihng 
taste,  and  St.  Anna  became  an  important  person- 
age. One  of  the  earliest  groups  in  which  the 
mother  of  the  Virgin  is  introduced  as  a  third  per- 
sonage, is  a  celebrated,  but  to  my  taste  not  a  pleas- 
infif,  composition,  by  Lionardo  da  Vinci,  in  which 
St.  Anna  is  seated  on  a  sort  of  chair,  and  the  Vir- 
gin on  her  knees  bends  down  towai-ds  the  Infant 
Christ,  who  is  sporting  with  a  lamb.  (liOuvre, 
481.) 

*  In  the  CoU.  of  the  Earl  of  Suffolk,  at  Charlton. 


i92  LEGENDS   OF    THE    MADONNA. 


FOUR  FIGURES. 

In  a  Holy  Family  of  four  figures,  we  have  fre« 
quently  the  Virgin,  the  Child,  and  the  infant  St. 
John,  with  St.  Joseph  standing  by.  RaphaePa 
Madonna  del  Passeggio  is  an  example.  In  a  pic- 
ture by  Palma  Vecchio,  St.  John  presents  a  lamb, 
while  St.  Joseph  kneels  before  the  Infant  Christ, 
who,  seated  on  his  mother's  knee,  extends  his  arms 
to  his  foster-father.  Nicold  Poussin  was  fond  of 
this  group,  and  has  repeated  it  at  least  ten  times 
with  variations. 

But  the  most  frequent  group  of  four  figures  con- 
eists  of  the  Virgin  and  Child,  with  St.  John  and  his 
mother,  St.  Elizabeth  —  the  two  mothers  and  the 
two  sons.  Sometimes  the  children  are  sporting 
together,  or  embracing  each  other,  while  Mary  and 
Elizabeth  look  on  with  a  contemplative  tenderness, 
or  seem  to  converse  on  the  future  destinies  of  their 
sons.  A  very  favourite  and  appropriate  action  is 
that  of  St.  Elizabeth  presenting  St.  John,  and 
teaching  him  to  kneel  and  fold  his  hands,  as  ac- 
knowled^ng  in  his  little  cousin  the  Infant  Sav- 
iour. We  have  then,  in  beautiful  contrast,  the 
aged  coifed  head  of  Elizabeth,  with  its  matronly 
and  earnest  expression ;  the  youthful  bloom  and 
soft  virginal  dignity  of  Mary;  and  the  different 
character  of  the  boys,  the  fair  complexion  and 
delicate  proportions  of  the  Infant  Christ,  and  th« 
more  robust  and  brown-complexioned  John.     A 


THE    HOLY    FAMILY.  393 

|Teat  painter  will  be  careful  to  express  these  dis- 
tinctions, not  by  the  exterior  character  only,  but 
will  so  combine  the  personages,  that  the  action  rep- 
resented shall  display  the  superior  dignity  of  Chrigt 
and  his  mother. 


FIVE   OR  SIX  FIGUEES. 

The  addition  of  Joseph  as  a  fifth  figure,  com' 
pletes  the  domestic  group.  The  introduction  of 
the  aged  Zacharias  renders,  however,  yet  more  full 
and  complete,  the  circle  of  human  life  and  human 
affection.  We  have  then,  infancy,  youth,  matu- 
rity, and  age,  —  difference  of  sex  and  various  de- 
grees of  relationship,  combined  into  one  harmo- 
nious whole ;  and  in  the  midst,  the  divinity  of 
innocence,  the  Child-God,  the  brightness  of  a 
spiritual  power,  connecting  our  softest  earthly 
affections  with  our  highest  heavenward  aspira- 
tions.* 

A  Holy  Family  of  more  than  six  figures  (the  an- 
gels not  included)  is  very  unusual.  ^  But  there  are 
examples  of  groups  combining  all  those  person- 
ages mentioned  in  the  Gospels  as  being  related  to 
Christ,  though  the  nature  and  the  degree  of  this 

•  The  inscription  niider  a  Holy  Family  in  which  the  children 
KTO  caressing  each  other  is  sometimes  DelicuB  mea  esse  eumJiKU 
Somimmi  (Prov.  Tiii.  81,  ''My  dehghts  were  with  the  soni  of 
»ien  ")• 


S94  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MADONNA. 

Bupposed  relationship  has  embarrassed  critics  and 
commentators,  and  is  not  yet  settled. 

According  to  an  ancient  tradition,  Anna,  the 
mother  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  was  three  times  mar- 
ried, Joachim  being  her  third  husband :  the  two 
others  were  Cleophas  and  Salome.  By  Cleophas 
she  had  a  daughter,  also  called  Mary,  who  was 
the  wife  of  Alpheus,  and  the  mother  of  Thaddeus, 
James  Minor,  and  Joseph  Justus.  By  Salome  she 
had  a  daughter,  also  Mary,  married  to  Zebedee, 
and  the  mother  of  James  Major  ^  and  John  the 
Evangelist.  This  idea  that  St.  Anna  was  succes- 
sively the  wife  of  three  husbands,  and  the  mother 
of  three  daughters,  all  of  the  name  of  Mary,  has 
been  rejected  by  later  authorities ;  but  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  sixteenth  century  it  was  accepted,  and 
to  that  period  may  be  referred  the  pictures,  Italian 
and  German,  representing  a  peculiar  version  of 
the  Holy  Family  more  properly  styled  "  the  Fam- 
ily of  the  Virgin  Mary." 

A  picture  by  Lorenzo  di  Pavia,  painted  about 
1513,  exhibits  a  very  complete  example  of  this 
family  group.  Mary  is  seated  in  the  centre,  hold- 
ing in  her  lap  the  Infant  Christ ;  near  her  is  St. 
Joseph.  Behind  the  Virgin  stand  St  Anna,  and 
three  men,  with  their  names  inscribed,  Joachim, 
Cleophas,  and  Salom^.  On  the  right  of  the  Virgin 
is  Mary  the  daughter  of  Cleophas,  Alpheus  her 
husband,  and  her  children  Thaddeus,  James  Minor, 
and  Joseph  Justus.  On  the  left  of  the  Virgin  it 
Mary  the  daughter  of  Salom^,  her  husband  Zebo 


THE    HOLY   FAMILY.  895 

4ee,  and  her  children  James  Major  and  John  the 
Evangelist* 

A  yet  more  beautiful  example  is  a  picture  by 
Perugino  in  the  Musee  at  Marseilles,  which  I  have 
already  cited  and  described  (Sacred  and  Legen- 
dary Art)  :  here  also  the  relatives  of  Christ,  des» 
fined  to  be  afterwards  his  apostles  and  the  minis- 
ters of  his  word,  are  grouped  around  him  in  his 
infancy.  In  the  centre  Mary  is  seated  and  hold- 
ing the  child ;  St.  Anna  stands  behind,  resting  hei 
hands  affectionately  on  the  shoulders  of  the  Virgin. 
In  front,  at  the*  feet  of  the  Virgin,  are  two  boys, 
Joseph  and  Thaddeus ;  and  near  them  Mary,  the 
daughter  of  Cleophas,  holds  the  hand  of  her  third 
son  James  Minor.  To  the  right  is  Mr^ry  Salome, 
holding  in  her  arms  her  son  John  the  Evangelist, 
and  at  her  feet  is  her  other  son,  James  Major.  Jo- 
seph, Zebedee,  and  other  members  of  the  family, 
stand  around.  The  same  subject  I  have  seen  in 
illuminated  MSS.,  and  in  German  prints.  It  is 
worth  remai'king  that  all  these  appeared  about  the 
same  time,  between  1505  and  1520,  and  that  the 
subject  afterwards  disappeared ;  from  which  I  infer 
that  it  was  not  authorized  by  the  Church ;  perhaps 
Ibecause  the  exact  degree  of  relationship  between 
these  young  apostles  and  the  Holy  Family  was  not 
clearly  made  out,  either  by  Scripture  or  tradition. 

In  a  composition  by  Parmigiano,  Christ  is  stand- 
ing at  his  mother's  knee ;   Elizaoeth  presents  St 

*  This  picture  I  saw  in  the  Louyre  some  years  ago,  but  it  ia 
ttot  in  the  New  Catalogue  by  M.  VUlot, 


^9B  LEGENDS   OP   THE   MADONNA. 

Jolin  the  Baptist ;  the  other  little  St.  John  kneelf 
on  a  cushion.  Behind  the  Virgin  are  St.  Joachim 
and  St.  Anna;  and  behind  Elizabeth,  Zebedee 
and  Mary  Salomd,  the  parents  of  St.  John  the 
Evangelist.  In  the  centre,  Joseph  looks  on  witn 
folded   hands. 

A  catalogue  raisonnde  of  the  Holy  Families 
painted  by  distinguished  artists  including  from  two 
to  six  figures  would  fill  volumes :  I  shall  content 
myself  with  directing  attention  to  some  few  exam- 
ples remarkable  either  for  their  'celebrity,  their 
especial  beauty,  or  for  some  peculiarity,  whether 
commendable  or  not,  in  the  significance  or  the 
treatment. 

The  strictly  domestic  conception  may  be  said 
to  have  begun  with  Raphael  and  Correggio ;  and 
they  afibrd  the  most  perfect  examples  of  the  tender 
and  the  graceful  in  sentiment  and  action,  the  softest 
parental  feeling,  the  loveliest  forms  of  childhood. 
Of  the  purely  natural  and  familiar  treatment, 
which  came  into  fashion  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, the  pictures  of  Guido,  Rubens,  and  Murillo 
afford  the  most  perfect  specimens. 

1.  Raphael.  (Louvre,  377.)  Mary,  a  noble 
queenly  creature,  is  seated,  and  bends  towards  her 
Child, who  is  springing  from  his  cradle  to  meet  her 
embrace  ;  Elizabeth  presents  St.  John ;  and  Joseph, 
Waning  on  his  hand,  contemplates  ^he  group  :  two 
beautiful  angels  scatter  flowers  from  above.  Thii 
is  the  celebrated   picture  once  supposed  to  have 


THE   HOir   FAMILY.  397 

been  executed  expressly  for  Francis  I. ;  but  later 
researches  prove  it  to  have  been  palntod  for  Lo- 
renzo de*  Medici,  Duke  of  Urbino.* 

2.  Correggio.  Mary  holds  the  Child  upon  her 
knee,  ooking  down  upon  him  fondly.  Styled, 
from  the  introduction  of  the  work-basket,  La  Vierge 
au  Panier,  A  finished  example  of  that  soft,  yet 
joyful,  maternal  feeling  for  which  Correggio  was 
remarkable.     (National  Gal.  23.) 

3.  Pinturicchio.  In  a  landscape,  Mary  and  Jo- 
seph are  seated  together;  near  them  are  some 
loaves  and  a  small  cask  of  wine.  More  in  front 
the  two  children,  Jesus  and  St.  John,  are  walking 
arm  in  arm;  Jesus  holds  a  book  and  John  a 
pitcher,  as  if  they  were  going  to  a  well.  (Siena 
Acad.) 

4.  Andrea  del  Sarto.  The  Virgin  is  seated  on 
the  ground,  and  holds  the  Child;  the  young  St. 

*  It  appears  from  the  correspondence  relative  to  this  picture 
and  the  *'  St.  Michael,"  that  both  pictures  were  painted  by  or- 
der of  this  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  the  same  who  is  figured  in  Michael 
Angelo's  Pensiero,  and  that  they  were  intended  as  presents  to 
Francis  I.  (See  Dr.  Gaye's  Chrteggio^  ii.  146,  and  also  the  new 
Catalogue  of  the  Louvre  by  F.  Villot.)  I  have  mentioned  this 
Holy  Family  not  as  the  finest  of  Raphael's  Madonnas,  butj)ecause 
there  is  something  peculiarly  animated  and  dramatic  in  the 
motifs  considering  the  time  at  which  it  was  painted.  It  was  my 
Intention  to  have  given  here  a  complete  list  of  Raphael's  Holy 
Families ;  but  this  has  been  so  well  done  in  the  last  English 
edition  of  Kugler's  Handbook,  that  it  has  become  superfluous 
%a  a  repetition.  The  series  of  minute  and  exquisite  drawings  by 
nlr.  (Jeorge  Scharf,  appended  to  Kugler's  Catalogue,  renders  it 
•asy  to  recognize  all  the  groups  detw-ribtjd  in  this  and  the  preoei 
Vig  pages. 


S98  LEGENDS   OF   THE   MADONNA. 

John  is  in  the  arms  of  St.  Elizabeth,  and  Joseph 
18  seen  behind.  (Louvre,  439.)  This  picture, 
another  by  the  same  painter  in  the  National  Gal- 
lery, a  third  in  the  collection  of  Lord  Lansdowne, 
and  in  general  all  the  Holy  Families  of  Andrea, 
may  be  cited  as  examples  of  fine  execution  and 
mistaken  or  defective  character.  No  sentiment,  no 
action,  connects  the  personages  either  with  each 
other,  or  with  the  spectator. 

5.  Michael  Angelo.  The  composition,  in  the 
Florence  Gallery,  styled  a  Holy  Family,  appears  to 
me  a  signal  example  of  all  that  should  be  avoided. 
It  is,  as  a  conception,  neither  religious  nor  domes- 
tic ;  in  execution  and  character  exaggerated  and 
offensive,  and  in  colour  hard  and  dry. 

Another,  a  bas-relief,  in  which  the  Child  is  shrink- 
ing from  a  bird  held  up  by  St.  John,  is  very  grand 
in  the  forms :  the  mistzike  in  sentiment,  as  regards 
the  bird,  I  have  pointed  out  in  the  Introduction. 
(Royal  Academy.)  A  third,  in  which  the  Child 
leans  pensively  on  a  book  lying  open  on  his  moth- 
er's knee,  while  she  looks  out  on  the  spectator,  is 
more  properly  a  Mater  Amabilis. 

ThQ;re  is  an  extraordinary  fresco  still  preserved 
in  the  Casa  Buonarotti  at  Florence,  where  it  was 
painted  on  the  wall  by  Michael  Angelo,  and  styled 
a  Holy  Family,  though  the  exact  meaning  of  the 
8uly*ect  has  been  often  disputed.  It  appears  to 
me,  however,  very  clear,  and  me  never  before  or 
iince  attempted  by  any  other  artist.  (This  fresco 
IS  <5ngraved    in    the    Etruria   Pittrice.)     Mary    u 


THE   HOLY   FAMILY.  $99 

leated  in  tlie  centre ;  her  Child  is  reclining  on  the 
ground  between  her  knees ;  and  the  little  St.  John 
holding  his  cross  looks  on  him  steadfastly.  A  man 
coming  forward  seems  to  ask  of  Mary,  "  Whose  son 
is  this  ?  "  She  most  expressively  puts  aside  Joseph 
with  her  hand,  and  looks  up,  as  if  answering,  "  Not 
the  son  of  an  earthly,  but  of  a  heavenly  Father  I " 
There  are  five  other  figures  standing  behind,  and 
the  whole  group  is  most  significant. 

b.  Albert  Durer.  The  Holy  Family  seated  un- 
der a  tree ;  the  Infant  is  about  to  spring  from  the 
knee  of  his  mother  into  the  outstretched  arms  of 
St.  Anna ;  Joseph  is  seen  behind  with  his  hat  in 
his  hand;  and  to  the  left  sits  the  aged  Joachim 
contemplating  the  group. 

7.  Mary  appears  to  have  just  risen  from  her 
chair,  the  Child  bends  from  her  arms,  and  a  young 
and  very  Httle  angel,  standing  on  tiptoe,  holds  up 
to  him  a  flower  —  other  flowers  in  his  lap  :  —  a 
beautiful  old  German  print. 

8.  Giulio  Romano.  {La  Madonna  del  Bacino.) 
(Dresden  Gal.)  The  Child  stands  in  a  basin,  and 
fche  young  St.  John  pours  water  upon  him  from 
a  vase,  while  Mary  washes  him.  St.  Elizabeth 
stands  by,  holding  a  napkin ;  St.  Joseph,  behind, 
b  looking  on.  Notwithstanding  the  homeliness  of 
the  action,  there  is  here  a  religious  and  mysterious 
lignificance,  prefiguring  the  Baptism. 

9.  N.  Poussin.  Mary,  assisted  by  angels,  washei 
End  dresses  her  Child.     (Gal.  of  Mr.  Hope.) 

10.  V.   Salimbeni.  —  An  Interior.    Mary_  and 


400      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

Joseph  are  occupied  by  the  Child.  Elizabeth  if 
gpinning.  More  in  front  St.  John  is  carrying  two 
puppies  in  the  lappet  of  his  coat,  and  the  dog  is 
leaping  up  to  him.  (Florence,  Pitti  Pal.)  This  is 
one  out  of  many  instances  in  which  the  painter, 
anxious  to  vary  the  oft-repeated  subject,  and  no 
longer  restrained  by  refined  taste  or  religious 
veneration,  has  fallen  into  a  most  offensive  impro- 
priety. 

11.  Ippolito  Andreasi.  Mary,  seated,  holds  the 
Infant  Christ  between  her  knees ;  Elizabeth  leans 
over  the  back  of  her  chair ;  Joseph  leans  on  his 
staff  behind  the  Virgin  ;  the  little  St.  John  and  an 
angel  present  grapes,  while  four  other  angels  are 
gathering  and  bringing  them.  A  branch  of  vine, 
loaded  with  grapes,  is  lying  in  the  foreground. 
Christ  looks  like  a  young  Bacchus;  and  there  is 
something  mannered  and  fantastic  in  the  execu- 
tion. (Louvre,  38.)  With  this  domestic  scene 
is  blended  a  strictly  religious  symbol,  "/  am  the 
vine,** 

12.  Murillo.  Mary  is  in  the  act  of  swaddling 
her  Child  (Luke  ii.  7),  while  two  angels,  standing 
near  him,  solace  the  divine  Infant  with  heavenly 
music.     (Madrid  Gal.) 

13.  Rubens.  Mary,  seated  on  the  ground,  holds 
Ihe  Child  with  a  charming  maternal  expression,  a 
little  from  her,  gazing  on  him  with  rapturous  ear* 
nestness,  while  he  looks  up  with  responsive  ten 
demess  in  her  face.  His  right  hand  rests  on  a 
tross  presented  by  St.  John,  who  is  presented  hf 


THE    HOLY   FAMILY.  401 

St.  Elizabeth.  Wonderful  for  the  intense!}  natu- 
ral and  domestic  expression,  and  the  beauty  of  the 
execution.     (Florence,  Pitti  Pal.) 

14.  D.  Hopfer.  Within  the  porch  of  a  buildings 
Mary  is  seated  on  one  side,  reading  intently.  St 
Anna,  on  the  other  side,  holds  out  her  arms  to  the 
Child,  who  Is  sitting  on  the  ground  between  them  i 
an  angel  looks  in  at  the  open  door  behind. 
(Bartsch.,  viii.  483.) 

15.  Rembrandt.  (JLe  Menage  du  Menuiskr*) 
A  rustic  interior.  Mary,  seated  in  the  centre,  ifl 
Buckling  her  Child.  St.  Anna,  a  fat  Flemish  gran- 
dame,  has  been  reading  the  volume  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  bends  forward  in  order  to  remove  the 
covering  and  look  in  the  Infant's  face.  A  cradle 
is  near.  Joseph  is  seen  at  work  in  the  background. 
(Louvre.) 

16.  Le  Brun.  {The  Benedicite.)  Mary,  the 
Child,  and  Joseph,  are  seated  at  a  frugal  repast 
Joseph  is  in  the  act  of  reverently  saying  grace, 
which  gives  to  the  picture  the  title  by  which  it  is 
known.* 


It  is  distinctly  related  that  Joseph  brought  up  his 
foster-Son  as  a  carpenter,  and  that  Jesus  exercised 
the  craft  of  his  reputed  father.  In  the  Church  pic- 
tures, we  do  not  often  meet  with  this  touching  and 
familiar  aspect  of  the  life  of  our  Saviour.     But  ia 

*  Louvre,  Ecole  Fran^aise  67  There  is  a  celebrated  engra^ 
%ig  by  Edelinck. 


i02  LEGENDS   OF   THE   MADONNA. 

the  small  decorative  pictures  painted  for  tlie  rich 
ecclesiastics,  and  for  private  oratoiies,  and  in  the 
cheap  prints  which  were  prepared  for  distribution 
among  the  people,  and  became  especially  popular 
during  the  religious  reaction  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, we  find  this  homely  version  of  the  subject  per- 
petually, and  often  most  pleasingly,  exhibited.  The 
greatest  and  wisest  Being  who  ever  trod  the  eartb 
was  thus  represented,  in  the  eyes  of  the  poor  artifi- 
cer, as  ennobling  and  sanctifying  labour  and  toil ; 
and  the  quiet  domestic  duties  and  afiections  were 
here  elevated  and  hallowed  by  religious  associa- 
tions, and  adorned  by  all  the  graces  of  Art.  Even 
where  the  artistic  treatment  was  not  first-rate,  was 
not  such  as  the  painters  —  priests  and  poets  as  well 
as  painters  —  of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  cen- 
turies would  have  lent  to  such  themes,  —  still  if 
the  sentiment  and  significance  were  but  intelligible 
to  those  especially  addressed,  the  purpose  was  ac- 
complished, and  the  effect  must  have  been  good. 
I  have  before  me  an  example  in  a  set  of  twelve 
prints,  executed  in  the  Netherlands,  exhibiting  a 
Bort  of  history  of  the  childhood  of  Christ,  and  his 
training  under  the  eye  of  his  mother.  It  is  entitled 
Jesu  Christi  Dei  Domini  Salvatoris  nostri  Infantia^ 
"  Tho  Infancy  of  our  Lord  God  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ;"  and  the  title-page  is  surrounded  by  a 
border  composed  of  musical  instruments,  spinning- 
wheels,  distaffs,  and  other  implements  of  female 
industry,  intermixed  with  all  kinds  of  mason's  and 
carpenter's  tools.     To  each  print  is  appended 


THE    HOLY   FAMILY.  408 

icscriDtive  Latin  verse ;  Latin  being  cliosen,  I  sup- 
pose, because  the  publication  was  intended  for 
distribution  in  different  countries,  and  especially 
foreign  missions,  and  to  be  explained  by  the  priests 
to  the  people. 

1.  The  figure  of  Christ  is  seen  in  a  glory  sur- 
rounded by  cherubim,  &c. 

2.  The  Virgin  is  seated  on  the  hill  of  Sion. 
The  Infant  in  her  lap,  with  outspread  arms,  looks 
up  to  a  choir  of  angels,  and  is  singing  with  them. 

3.  Jesus,  slumbering  in  his  cradle,  is  rocked  by  two 
angels,  while  Mary  sits  by,  engaged  in  needlework.* 

4.  The  interior  of  a  carpenter's  shop.  Joseph 
is  plying  his  work,  while  Joachim  stands  near  him. 
The  Virgin  is  measuring  linen,  and  St.  Anna  looks 
on.  Two  angels  are  at  play  with  the  Infant  Christ, 
who  is  blowing  soap-bubbles. 

*  The  Latin  stanza  beneath,  is  remarkable  for  its  elegance,  and 
because  it  has  been  translated  by  Coleridge,  who  mentions  that 
lie  found  the  print  and  the  verse  under  it  in  a  little  inn  iq 
Etormany. 

Dormi,  Jesu,  mater  ridet, 

Quae  tam  dulcem  somnum  videt, 

Dormi,  Jesu,  blandule ! 
Si  non  dormis  mater  plorat, 
Inter  fila  cantans  orat, 
♦  Blande,  veni,  somnule ! 

Bleep,  sweet  babe !  my  cares  beguiling, 
Mother  sits  beside  thee  smiling, 
Sleep,  my  darling,  tenderly ! 
If  thou  sleep  not,  mother  moumeth, 
Singing  as  her  wheel  she  tumeth : 

Come,  soft  slumber,  balmily !  »• 


404      LEGENDS  OF  IHE  MADONNA. 

5.  While  Mary  is  preparing  the  family  meal, 
and  watching  a  pot  which  is  boiling  on  the  fire, 
Joseph  is  seen  behind  chopping  wood :  more  in 
front,  Jesus  is  sweeping  together  the  chips,  and 
two  angels  are  gathering  them  up. 

6.  Mary  is  reeling  oflf  a  skein  of  thread ;  Joseph 
is  squaring  a  plank  ;  Jesus  is  picking  up  the  chips, 
assisted  by  two  angels. 

7.  Mary  is  seated  at  her  spinning-wheel ;  Jo- 
seph, assisted  by  Jesus,  is  sawing  through  a  lai^ 
beam ;  two  angels  looking  on. 

8.  Mary  is  spinning  with  a  distaff;  behind,  Jo- 
seph is  sawing  a  beam,  on  which  Jesus  is  standing 
above;  and  two  angels  are  lifting  a  plank. 

9.  Joseph  is  seen  building  up  the  framework  of 
a  house,  assisted  by  an  angel;  Jesus  is  boring  a 
hole  with  a  large  gimlet;  an  angel  helps  him; 
Mary  is  winding  thread. 

10.  Joseph  is  busy  roofing  in  the  house ;  Jesus, 
assisted  by  the  angels,  is  carrying  a  beam  of  wood 
ap  a  ladder ;  below,  in  front,  Mary  is  carding  wool 
or  flax. 

11.  Joseph  is  building  a  boat,  assisted  by  Jesus, 
who  has  a  hammer  and  chisel  in  his  hand  :  two  an- 
gels help  him.  The  Virgin  is  knitting  a  stocking ; 
and  the  new-built  house  is  seen  in  the  back- 
ground. 

1 2.  Joseph  is  erecting  a  fence  round  a  garden  ; 
Jesus,  assisted  by  the  angels,  is  fastening  the  palings 
together ;  while  Mary  is  weaving  garlands  of  roses 

Justin   Martyr  mentions,  as  a  tradition  of  hii 


THE    HOLY   FAMILY.  405 

lime,  that  Jesus  assisted  his  foster-father  m  makio^ 
y^okes  and  ploughs.  In  Holland,  where  thes« 
prints  were  published,  the  substitution  of  the  boat- 
building seems  very  natural.  St.  Bonaventura, 
the  great  Franciscan  theoioglan,  and  a  high  au- 
thority in  all  that  relates  to  the  life  and  character 
of  Mary,  not  only  described  her  as  a  pattern  of 
female  industry,  but  alludes  particularly  to  the 
legend  of  the  distaff,  and  mentions  a  tradition,  that, 
when  in  Egypt,  the  Holy  Family  was  so  reduced 
by  poverty,  that  Mary  begged  from  door  to  door 
the  fine  flax  which  she  afterwards  spun  into  a  gar- 
ment for  her  Child. 

As  if  to  render  the  circle  of  maternal  duties, 
and  thereby  the  maternal  example,  more  complete, 
there  are  prints  of  Mary  leading  her  Son  to  school. 
I  have  seen  one  in  which  he  carries  his  hornbook 
in  his  hand.  Such  representations,  though  popu- 
lar, were  condemned  by  the  highest  church  au- 
thorities as  nothing  less  than  heretical.  The  Abbd 
Mery  counts  among  the  artistic  errors  "  which  en- 
danger the  faith  of  good  Christians,"  those  pictures 
which  represent  Mary  or  Joseph  instructing  the 
Infant  Christ ;  as  if  all  learning,  all  science,  divine 
Und  human,  were  not  his  by  intuition,  and  without 
imy  earthly  teaching,  (v.  Theologie  des  Peintres.) 
A  beautiful  Holy  Family,  by  Sohidone,  is  entitled, 
'*The  Infant  Christ  learning  to  read"  (Bridge- 
water  Gal.)  ;  and  we  frequently  meet  with  pictures 
»  which  the  mother  holds  a  book^  while  the  divine 


106  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MADONNA. 

Child,  with  a  serious  intent  expression,  turns  over 
the  leaves,  or  points  to  the  letters :  but  I  imagine 
that  these,  and  similar  groups,  represent  Jesus 
instructing  Mary  and  Joseph,  as  he  is  recorded 
to  have  done.  There  is  also  a  very  pretty  legend, 
in  which  he  is  represented  as  exciting  the  astonish- 
ment of  the  schoolmaster  Zaccheus  by  his  prema- 
ture wisdom.  On  these,  and  other  details  respect- 
ing the  infancy  of  our  Saviour,  I  shall  have  to  say 
much  more  when  treating  of  the  History  of  Christ 


THE  DISPUTE  IN   THE  TEMPLE. 
hal.  La  Disputa  nel  Tempio.    Fr.  J68Vlb  an  milieu  des  Docteurf . 

The  subject  which  we  call  the  Dispute  in  the 
Temple,  or  "  Christ  among  the  Doctors,"  is  a  scene 
of  great  importance  in  the  life  of  the  Redeemer 
(Luke  ii.  41,  52).  His  appearance  in  the  midst 
of  the  doctors,  at  twelve  years  old,  when  he  sat 
"  hearing  them  and  asking  them  questions,  and  all 
who  heard  him  were  astonished  at  his  understand- 
ing and  his  answers,**  has  been  interpreted  as  the 
first  manifestation  of  his  high  character  as  teacher 
of  men,  as  one  come  to  throii  a  new  light  on  the 
prophecies,  — 

"  For  trailing  clouds  of  glory  had  he  come 
From  heaven,  which  was  his  home;" 

tnd  also  as  instructing  us  that  tliose  who  are  t^ 


THE   DISPUTE   IN    THE   TEMPLE.  407 

become  teachers  of  men  ought,  when  young,  to  lis- 
ten to  the  voice  of  age  and  experience ;  and  that 
those  who  have  grown  old  may  learn  lessons  of 
wisdom  from  childish  innocence.  Such  is  the  his- 
torical and  scriptural  representation.  But  in  the 
life  of  the  Virgin,  the  whole  scene  changes  its  sig- 
nification. It  is  no  longer  the  wisdom  of  the  Son, 
it  is  the  sorrow  of  the  Mother  which  is  the  princi- 
pal theme.  In  their  journey  home  from  Jerusa- 
lem, Jesus  has  disappeared ;  he  who  was  the  light 
of  her  eyes,  whose  precious  existence  had  been  so 
often  threatened,  has  left  her  care,  and  gone,  she 
knows  not  whither.  "  No  fancy  can  imagine  the 
doubts,  the  apprehensions,  the  possibilities  of  mis- 
chief, the  tremblings  of  heart,  which  the  holy  Vir- 
gin-mother feels  thronging  in  her  bosom.  Fop 
three  days  she  seeks  him  in  doubt  and  anguish." 
(Jeremy  Taylor's  "  Life  of  Christ.")  At  length 
he  is  found  seated  in  the  temple  in  the  midst  of 
the  learned  doctors,  "hearing  them,  and  asking 
them  questions."  And  she  said  unto  him,  "  Son, 
why  hast  thou  thus  dealt  with  us  ?  behold,  I  and 
thy  father  have  sought  thee  sorrowing."  And  he 
laid  unto  them,  "  How  is  it  that  ye  sought  me  ? 
Wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be  about  my  Father's 
business  ?  " 

Now  there  are  two  ways  of  representing  this 
scene.  In  all  the  earlier  pictures  it  is  chiefly  with 
reference  to  the  Virgin  Mother :  it  is  one  of  the 
sorrowful  mysteries  of  the  Rosary.  The  CLild 
fesus  sits  in  the  temple,  teaching  with  hand  u|>« 


i08  LEGENDS    OF    THE   MADONNA 

lifted ;  the  doctors  round  him  turn  over  the  leaves 
of  their  great  books,  searching  the  law  and  the 
prophets.  Some  look  up  at  the  young  inspired 
Teacher  —  he  who  was  above  the  law,  yet  came  to 
obey  the  law  and  fulfil  the  prophecies  —  with 
amazement.  Conspicuous  in  front,  stand  Mary 
and  Joseph,  and  she  is  in  act  to  address  to  him 
the  tender  reproach,  "I  and  thy  father  have 
sought  thee  sorrowing."  In  the  early  examples 
she  is  a  principal  figure,  but  in  later  pictures  she  is 
seen  entering  in  the  background ;  and  where  the 
scene  relates  only  to  the  life  of  Christ,  the  figures 
of  Joseph  and  Mary  are  omitted  altogether,  and 
the  Child  teacher  becomes  the  central,  or  at  least 
the  chief,  personage  in  the  group. 

In  a  picture  by  Giovanni  da  Udine,  the  subject 
is  taken  out  of  the  region  of  the  actual,  and  treated 
altogether  as  a  mystery.  In  the  centre  sits  the 
young  Redeemer,  his  hand  raised,  and  surrounded 
by  several  of  the  Jewish  doctors ;  while  in  front 
stand  the  four  fathers  of  the  Church,  who  flour- 
ished in  the  interval  between  the  fourth  and  sixth 
centuries  after  Christ;  and  these,  holding  their 
books,  point  to  Jesus,  or  look  to  him,  as  to  the 
source  of  their  wisdom; — a  beautiful  and  poetical 
version  of  the  true  significance  of  the  story,  which 
the  critics  of  the  last  century  would  call  a  chrono- 
logical mistake.     (Venice,  Academy.) 

But  those  representations  which  come  under  our 
especial  consideration  at  present,  are  such  as  rep- 
resent the  moment  in  which  Mary  appears  before 


THE   DISPUTE   IN    THE   TEMPLE.  409 

her  Son.  The  earliest  instance  of  this  treatment 
is  a  group  by  Giotto.  Dante  cites  the  deportment 
of  the  Virgin  on  this  occasion,  and  her  mild  re- 
proach, "con  atto  dolce  di  madre^*  as  a  signal 
lesson  of  gentleness  and  forbearance.  (Purga- 
torio,  c.  XV.)  It  is  as  if  he  had  transferred  the 
picture  of  Giotto  into  his  Vision ;  for  it  is  as  a 
picture,  not  an  action,  tiiat  it  is  introduced.  An- 
other, by  Simon  Memmi,  in  the  Roscoe  Collection 
at  Liverpool,  is  conceived  in  a  similar  spirit.  In  a 
picture  by  Garofalo,  Mary  does  not  reproach  her 
Son,  but  stands  listening  to  him  with  hier  hands 
folded  on  her  bosom.  In  a  large  and  fine  compo- 
.^^ition  by  Pinturicchio,  the  doctors  throw  down  their 
books  before  him,  while  the  Virgin  and  Joseph  are 
entering  on  one  side.  The  subject  is  conspicuous 
m  Albert  Durer's  Life  of  the  Virgin,  where  Jesus 
IS  seated  on  high,  as  one  having  authority,  teaching 
from  a  chair  like  that  of  a  professor  in  a  university, 
and  surrounded  by  the  old  bearded  doctors ;  and 
Mary  stands  before  her  Son  in  an  attitude  of  ex- 
postulation. 

After  the  restoration  of  Jesus  to  his  parents,  they 
conducted  him  home ;  "  but  his  mother  kept  all 
these  sayings  in  her  heart.**  The  return  to  Naza- 
reth, Jesus  walking  humbly  between  Joseph  and 
fia.ary,  was  painted  by  Rubens  for  the  Jesuit  Col- 
I  ege  at  Antwerp,  as  a  lesson  to  youth.  Underneath 
«  the  text,  "  And  he  was  subject  unto  them.**  * 

*  It  has  been  called  by  mistake  "  The  Retutn  firom  Egypt  " 


410  LEGENDS   OF    THE   MADONNA. 


THE  DEATH  OF  JOSEPH. 

Ital.  La  Morte  di  San  Giuseppe,    i^.  La  Mort  de  St  Joseph 
Ger.  Josef's  Ted. 

Between  the  journey  to  Jerusalem  and  th« 
public  appearance  of  Jesus,  chronologers  place 
the  death  of  Joseph,  but  the  exact  date  is  not 
ascertained :  some  place  it  in  the  eighteenth  year 
of  the  life  of  our  Saviour,  and  others  in  his  twenty- 
seventh  year,  when,  as  they  assert,  Joseph  was  one 
hundred  and  eleven  years  old. 

I  have  already  observed,  that  the  enthusiasm  for 
the  character  of  Joseph,  and  his  popularity  as  a 
saint  and  patron  of  power,  date  from  the  fifteenth 
century ;  and  late  in  the  sixteenth  century  I  find, 
for  the  first  time,  the  death  of  Joseph  treated  as  a 
separate  subject.  It  appears  that  the  supposed 
anniversary  of  his  death  (July  20)  had  long  been 
regarded  in  the  East  as  a  solemn  festival,  and  that 
it  was  the  custom  to  read  publicly,  on  this  occasion, 
some  homily  relating  to  his  life  and  death.  The 
very  curious  Arabian  work,  entitled  "  The  History 
of  Joseph  the  Carpenter,"  is  supposed  to  be  one  of 
these  ancient  homilies,  and,  in  its  original  form,  sa 
old  as  the  fourth  century.*     Here  the  death  of  Jo- 

•  The  Arabic  MS.  in  the  library  at  Paris  is  of  the  year  1299, 
Mid  the  Coptic  version  as  old  as  1367.  Extracts  from  these  wert 
become  current  in  the  legends  of  the  West,  about  the  fifteenth 
eentury.  —  See  the  "  Neu  Testamentlichen  Apokryphen,"  editel 
la  German  by  Dr.  K.  F.  Borberg. 


THE   DEATH   OF   JOSEPH.  411 

leph  is  described  with  great  detail,  and  with  many 
Bolemn  and  pathetic  circumstances ;  and  the  whole 
history  is  put  Into  the  mouth  of  Jesus,  who  Is  sup- 
posed to  recite  it  to  his  disciples  :  he  describes  the 
pious  end  of  Joseph  ;  he  speaks  of  himself  as  being 
present,  and  acknowledged  by  the  dying  man  as 
"  Redeemer  and  Messiah , "  and  he  proceeds  to 
record  the  grief  of  Mary  :  — 

**  And  my  mother,  the  Virgin,  arose,  and  she 
came  nigh  to  me  and  said,  *  O  my  beloved  Son 
now  must  the  good  old  man  die  1 '  and  I  answerec 
and  said  unto  her,  '  O  my  most  dear  mother,  needs 
must  all  created  beings  die ;  and  death  will  have 
his  rights,  even  over  thee,  beloved  mother;  but 
death  to  him  and  to  thee  is  no  death,  only  the  pas- 
sage to  eternal  life ;  and  this  body  I  have  derived 
from  thee  shall  also  undergo  death.' " 

And  they  sat,  the  Son  and  the  mother,  beside 
Joseph  ;  and  Jesus  held  his  hand,  and  watched  the 
last  breath  of  life  trembling  on  his  lips  ;  and  Mary 
touched  his  feet,  and  they  were  cold;  and  the 
daughters  and  the  sons  of  Joseph  wept  and  sobbed 
around  in  their  grief;  and  then  Jesus  adds  ten- 
derly, '*  I,  and  my  mother  Mary,  we  wept  with 
them." 

Then  follows  a  truly  Oriental  scene,  of  the  evil 
angels  rising  up  with  Death,  and  rejoicing  in  his 
power  over  the  saint,  while  Jesus  rebukes  them; 
»nd  at  his  prayer  God  sends  down  Michael,  prince 
of  the  angelic  host,  and  Gabriel,  the  herald  of  light, 
to  take  possession  of  the  departing  spirit,  enfold  it 


41 L  LEGEin>S    OF   THE   MADONNA. 

in  a  robe  of  brightness  thereby  to  preserve  it  from 
the  "  dark  angels,"  and  carry  it  up  into  heaven. 

This  legend  of  the  death  of  Joseph  was,  in  many 
forms,  popular  in  the  sixteenth  century ;  hence 
arose  the  custom  of  invoking  him  as  intercessor 
to  obtain  a  blessed  and  peaceful  end,  so  that  he 
became,  in  some  sort,  the  patron  saint  of  death- 
beds ;  and  it  is  at  this  time  we  find  the  first  repre- 
sentations of  the  death  of  Joseph,  afterwards  a 
popular  subject  in  the  churches  and  convents  of 
the  Augustine  canons  and  Carmelite  friars,  who 
had  chosen  him  for  their  patron  saint;  and  also 
in  family  chapels  consecrated  to  the  memory  or  the 
repose  of  the  dead. 

The  finest  example  I  have  seen,  is  by  Carlo 
Maratti,  in  the  Vienna  Gallery.  St.  Joseph  is  on 
a  couch  ;  Christ  is  seated  near  him  ;  and  the  Vir- 
gin stands  by  with  folded  hands,  in  a  sad,  contem- 
plative attitude. 

I  am  not  aware  that  the  Virgin  has  ever  been 
introduced  into  any  representation  of  the  tempta- 
tion or  the  baptism  of  our  Saviour.  These  sub- 
jects, so  important  and  so  picturesque,  are  reserved 
kill  we  enter  upon  the  History  of  Christ 


THE  MARRIAGE   AT   CANA.  419 


THE  MARRIAGE  AT  CANA  IN  GALILEE. 

&al.  Le  Nozze  di  Cana.     Fr.  Les  Noces  de  Cana.      Ger.  Di* 
Hochzeit  zu  Cana. 

After  his  temptation  and  baptism,  the  first 
manifestation  of  the  divine  mission  and  miracu- 
lous power  of  Jesus  was  at  the  wedding  feast  at 
Cana  in  Galilee;  and  those  who  had  devoted 
themselves  to  the  especial  glorification  of  the  Vir- 
gin Mother  did  not  forget  that  it  was  at  her  re- 
quest this  first  miracle  was  accomplished  :  —  that 
out  of  her  tender  and  sympathetic  commiseration 
for  the  apparent  want,  arose  her  appeal  to  him,  — 
not,  indeed,  as  requiring  anything  from  him,  but, 
looking  to  him  with  habitual  dependence  on  his 
goodness  and  power.  She  simply  said,  "  They 
have  no  wine  1 "  He  replied,  "  Woman,  what 
have  I  to  do  with  thee  ?  Mine  hour  is  not  yet 
come."  The  term  woman^  thus  used,  sounds  harsh 
to  us ;  but  in  the  original  is  a  term  of  respect.  Nor 
did  Jesus  intend  any  denial  to  the  mother,  whom 
he  regarded  with  dutiful  and  pious  reverence :  — 
it  was  merely  an  intimation  that  he  was  not  yet 
entered  into  the  period  of  miraculous  power.  He 
anticipated  *t,  however,  for  her  sake,  and  because 
of  her  request.  Such  is  the  view  taken  of  this 
beautiful  and  dramatic  incident  by  the  early  the- 
ologians ;  and  in  the  same  spirit  it  has  been  nteP" 
preted  by  the  painters. 
27 


414  LEGENDS    OF    THE   MADONNA. 

The  Marriage  at  Cana  appears  very  seldom  in 
the  ancient  representations  taken  from  the  Gospel. 
All  the  monkish  institutions  then  prevalent  discred- 
ited marriage ;  and  it  is  clear  that  this  distinct 
consecration  of  the  rite  by  the  presence  of  the 
Saviour  and  his  mother  did  not  find  favour  with 
the  early  patrons  of  art. 

There  is  an  old  Greek  tradition,  that  the  Mar- 
riage at  Cana  was  that  of  John  the  Evangelist.  In 
the  thirteenth  century,  when  the  passionate  enthu- 
siasm for  Mary  Magdalene  was  at  its  height,  it  was 
a  popular  article  of  belief,  that  the  Marriage  which 
Jesus  graced  with  his  presence  was  that  of  John 
the  Evangelist  and  Mary  Magdalene ;  and  that 
immediately  after  the  wedding  feast,  St.  John  and 
Mary,  devoting  themselves  to  an  austere  and  chaste 
religious  life,  followed  Christ,  and  ministered  to  him. 

As  a  scene  in  the  life  of  Christ,  the  Marriage  at 
Cana  is  of  course  introduced  incidentally;  but 
even  here,  such  were  the  monastic  principles  and 
prejudices,  that  I  find  it  difficult  to  point  out  any 
very  early  example.  In  the  "  Manual  of  Greek 
Art,"  published  by  Didron,  the  rules  for  the  repre- 
sentation are  thus  laid  down  :  —  "A  table  ;  around 
it  Scribes  and  Pharisees ;  one  holds  up  a  cup  of 
wine,  and  seems  astonished.  In  the  midst,  the 
bride  and .  bridegroom  are  seated  together.  The 
bridegroom  is  to  have  *  grey  hair  and  a  round 
beard  (cheveux  gris  et  harhe  arrondie)  ;  both  are 
to  be  crowned  with  flowers  ;  behind  them,  a  servi* 
ton     Christ,  the  Virgin,  and  Joseph  aie  to  be  or 


TUB.   MARRIAGE   AT   CANA.  413 

•ne  side,  and  on  the  other  are  six  jars :  the  attend- 
ants are  in  the  act  of  filling  them  with  water  from 
leathern  buckets." 

The  introduction  of  Joseph  is  quite  peculiar  to 
Greek  art ;  and  the  more  curious,  that  in  the  list 
of  Greek  subjects  there  is  not  one  from  his  life,  nor 
in  which  he  is  a  conspicuous  figure.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  astonished  "  ruler  of  the  feast "  (the  Ar- 
ehitriclino)^  so  dramatic  and  so  necessary  to  the 
comprehension  of  the  scene,  is  scarcely  ever  omit- 
jed.  The  apostles  whom  we  may  imagine  to  be 
present,  are  Peter,  Andrew,  James,  and  John. 

As  a  separate  subject,  the  Marriage  at  Cans 
first  became  popular  in  the  Venetian  school,  and 
thence  extended  to  the  Lombard  and  German 
schools  of  the  came  period  —  that  is,  about  the  be- 
ginning of  the  sixteenth  century. 

The  most  beautiful  representation  I  have  ever 
seen  is  a  fresco,  by  Luini,  in  the  church  of  San 
Maurizio,  at  Milan.  It  belongs  to  a  convent  of 
nuns ;  and  I  imagine,  from  its  introduction  there, 
that  it  had  a  mystic  signification,  and  referred  to  a 
divine  Sposalizio.  In  this  sense,  the  treatment  is 
perfect  There  are  just  the  number  of  figures  ne- 
cessary to  tell  the  story,  and  no  more.  It  is  the 
bride  who  is  here  the  conspicuous  figure,  seated  in 
the  centre,  arrayed  in  spotless  white,  and  repre- 
sented as  a  nun  about  to  make  her  profession  ;  for 
this  is  evidently  the  intended  signification.  The 
bridegroom  is  at  her  side,  and  rear  to  the  spec- 


416      LEGENDS  OP  THE  MADONNA. 

tator.  Christ  and  the  Virgin  are  seated  together 
and  appear  to  be  conversing.  A  man  presents  t 
cup  of  wine.  Including  guests  and  attendants, 
there  are  only  twelve  figures.  The  only  fault  of 
this  exquisite  and  graceful  composition,  is  the  intro- 
duction of  a  cat  and  dog  tin  front:  we  feel  that 
they  ought  to  have  been  omitted,  as  giving  occa- 
sion for  irreverent  witticisms.  * 

In  contrast  with  this  picture,  and  as  a  gorgeous 
specimen  of  the  Venetian  style  of  treatment,  we  may 
turn  to  the  "  Marriage  at  Cana  "  in  the  Louvre,  origi- 
nally painted  to  cover  one  side  of  the  refectory  of  the 
convent  of  San  Giorgio  Maggiore  at  Venice,  whence 
it  was  carried  off  by  the  French  in  1796.  This 
immense  picture  is  about  thirty-six  feet  in  length, 
and  about  twenty  feet  in  height,  and  contains  more 
than  a  hundred  figures  above  life-size.  In  the  cen- 
tre Christ  is  seated,  and  beside  him  the  Vir^n 
Mother.  Both  heads  are  merely  commonplace, 
and  probably  portraits,  like  those  of  the  other  per- 
sonages at  the  extremity  of  the  table.  On  the  left 
are  seated  the  bride  and  bridegroom.  In  the  fore- 
ground a  company  of  musicians  are  performing  a 
concert;  behind  the  table  is  a  balustrade,  where 
are  seen  numerous  servants  occupied  in  cutting  up 
ihe  viands  and  serving  dishes,  with  attendants  and 
spectators.  The  chief  action  to  be  represented, 
the  astonishing  miracle  performed  by  him  at  whose 
command  "  the  fountain  blushed  into  wine,"  is  her* 

•  Thia  beautiful  fresco,  which  is  seldom  seen,  being  behind  tbi 
ttter,  was  in  a  yery  ruined  condition  when  I  saw  it  last  in  1866. 


THE   MARRIAGE   AT    CANA.  417 

|mte  a  secondary  matter;  and  tiie  value  of  the 
picture  lies  in  its  magnitude  and  variety  as  a  com- 
position, and  the  portraits  of  the  historical  charac* 
lers  and  remarkable  personages  introduced,  —  Fran- 
cis I.,  his  queen  Eleanora  of  Austria,  Charles  V., 
and  others.  In  the  group  of  musicians  in  front  w€ 
recognize  Titian  and  Tintoretto,  old  Bassano,  and 
Paolo  himself 

The  Marriage  at  Cana,  as  a  refectory  subject, 
had  been  unknown  till  this  time  :  it  became  popu- 
lar, and  Paolo  afterwards  repeated  it  several  times. 
The  most  beautiful  of  all,  to  my  feeling,  is  that  in  the 
Dresden  Gallery,  where  the  "  ruler  of  the  feast,** 
holding  up  the  glass  of  wine  with  admiration, 
eeems  to  exclaim,  "  Thou  hast  kept  the  good  wine 
until  now.**  In  another,  which  is  at  Milan,  the 
Virgin  turns  round  to  the  attendant,  and  desires 
him  to  obey  her  Son  ;  —  **  Whatsoever  he  saith  un- 
to you,  do  it  I  ** 

As  the  Marriage  at  Cana  beiongs,  as  a  subject, 
rather  to  the  history  of  Christ,  than  to  that  of  the 
Virgin  his  mother,  I  shall  not  enter  into  it  further 
here,  but  proceed. 


After  the  marriage  at  Cana  in  Galilee,  which 
may  be  regarded  as  the  commencement  of  the  mi- 
laculous  mission  of  our  Lord,  we  do  not  hear  any- 
thing of  his  mother,  the  Virgin,  till  the  time  ap- 
proached when  he  was  to  close  his  ministry  by  his 
teath.     She  is  not  once  referred  to  by  name  in  the 


118  LEGENDS   OF   THE   MADONNA. 

Gospels  until  the  scene  of  the  Crucifixion.  "We 
ftre  indeed  given  to  understand,  that  in  the  jour- 
neys of  our  Saviour,  and  particularly  when  he 
went  up  from  Nazareth  to  Jerusalem,  the  women 
followed  and  ministered  to  him  (Matt,  xxvii,  55 
Luke,  viii.  2)  ;  and  those  who  have  written  the  life 
of  the  Virgin  for  the  edification  of  the  people,  and 
those  who  have  translated  it  into  the  various  forms 
of  art,  have  taken  it  for  granted  that  She,  his 
mother,  could  not  have  been  absent  or  indifierent 
where  others  attended  with  affection  and  zeal :  but 
I  do  not  remember  any  scene  in  which  she  is  an 
actor,  or  even  a  conspicuous  figure. 

Among  the  carvings  on  the  stalls  at  Amiens, 
there  is  one  which  represents  the  passage  (Matt, 
xii.  46.)  wherein  our  Saviour,  preaching  in  Judea, 
is  told  that  his  mother  and  his  brethren  stand  with- 
out. "  But  he  answering,  said  to  him  that  told  him, 
Who  is  my  mother  ?  and  who  are  my  brethren  ?  * 
And  he  stretched  forth  his  hand  toward  his  disci- 
ples, and  said,  *  Behold  my  mother  and  my  breth- 
ren ! '  **  The  composition  exhibits  on  one  side 
Jesus  standing  and  teaching  his  disciples;  while 
on  the  other,  through  an  open  door,  we  perceive 
the  Virgin  and  two  or  three  others.  This  repre- 
sentation is  very  rare.  The  date  of  these  stalls  is 
the  sixteenth  century ;  and  such  a  group  in  a  series 
of  the  life  of  the  Virgin  could  not,  I  think,  have  oc- 
curred in  the  fifteenth.  It  would  have  been  quite 
mconsistent  with  all  the  religious  tendencies  of  that 
lime,  to  exhibit  Christ  as  preaching  within j  while  hii 


THE   MINISTRY   OF    CHRIST.  419 

'  divine  and  most  glorious  "  Mother  was  standing 
loithouU 

The  theologians  of  the  middle  ages  insist  on  the 
close  and  mystical  relation  which  they  assure  us 
existed  between  Christ  and  his  mother:  however 
far  separated,  there  was  constant  communion  be- 
tween them ;  and  wherever  he  might  be  —  in  what* 
ever  acts  of  love,  or  mercy,  or  benign  wisdom 
occupied  for  the  good  of  man  —  there  was  also  hia 
mother,  present  with  him  in  the  spirit.  I  think  we 
can  trace  the  impress  of  this  mysticism  in  some  of 
the  productions  of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  cen- 
turies. For  example,  among  the  frescoes  by  An- 
gelico  da  Fiesole  in  the  cloisters  of  St.  Mark,  at 
Florence,  there  is  one  of  the  Transfiguration,  where 
the  Saviour  stands  glorified  with  arms  outspread  — 
a  simple  and  sublime  conception,  —  and  on  each 
side,  half  figures  of  Moses  and  Elias  :  lower  down 
appear  the  Virgin  and  St.  Dominick.  There  is  al- 
so in  the  same  series  a  fresco  of  the  Last  Supper  aa 
the  Eucharist,  in  which  the  Virgin  is  kneeling,  glo- 
rified, on  one  side  of  the  picture,  and  appears  as  a 
partakei;.;pf  the  rite.  Such  a  version  of  either  sub- 
ject must  be  regarded  as  wholly  mystical  and  ex- 
ceptional, and  I  am  not  acquainted  with  any  othei 
instance. 


420      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 


LO  SPASMO. 

**0  what  avaUs  me  now  that  honour  high, 
To  have  conceived  of  God,  and  that  salute, 
*Hail  highly  favoured  among  women  blest* 
While  I  to  sorrows  am  no  less  advanced, 
And  fears  as  eminent,  above  the  lot 
Of  other  women  by  the  birth  I  bore." 

"  This  is  my  favoured  lot, 

My  exaltation  to  afflictions  high." 

Milton. 

In  the  Passion  of  our  Lord,  taken  in  connection 
with  the  life  of  the  Virgin  Mother,  there  are  three 
Bcenes  in  which  she  is  associated  with  the  action  as 
an  important,  if  not  a  principal,  personage. 

We  are  told  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  John  (chap, 
xvii.),  that  Christ  took  a  solemn  farewell  of  his  dis- 
ciples :  it  is  therefore  supposed  that  he  did  not  go 
up  to  his  death  without  taking  leave  of  his  Mother, 
—  without  preparing  her  for  that  grievous  agony  by 
all  the  comfort  that  his  tender  and  celestial  pity 
and  superior  nature  could  bestow.  This  parting  of 
Christ  and  his  Mother  before  the  Crucifixion  is  a 
modem  subject.  I  am  not  acquainted  with  any  ex 
ample  previous  to  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  The  earliest  I  have  met  with  is  by  Albert 
Durer,  in  the  series  of  the  life  of  the  Virgin,  hui 
Ihere  are  probably  examples  more  ancient,  or  a« 
least  contemporary.  In  Albert  Durer's  composi 
tion,  Mary  is  sinking  to  the  earth,  as  if  overcomi 


LO    8PASIMO.  42t 

irith  aMction,  and  is  sustained  in  the  arms  of  tw« 
»^omen ;  she  looks  up  with  folded  hands  and  stream- 
ing eyes  to  her  Son  who  stands  before  her;  he, 
with  one  hand  extended,  looks  down  upon  her  com- 
passionately, and  seems  to  give  her  his  last  benedic- 
tion. I  remember  another  instance,  by  Paul  Ve- 
ronese, full  of  that  natural  affectionate  sentiment 
which  belonged  to  the  Venetian  school.  (Floi> 
ence  Gal.)  In  a  very  beautiful  picture  by  Carotto 
of  Verona,  Jesus  kneels  before  his  Mother,  and  re- 
ceives her  benediction  before  he  departs :  this  must 
be  regarded  as  an  impropriety,  a  mistake  in  point 
of  sentiment,  considering  the  peculiar  relation  be- 
tween the  two  personages ;  but  it  is  a  striking  in- 
stance  of  the  popular  notions  of  the  time  respect- 
mg  the  high  dignity  of  the  Virgin  Mother.  I  have 
not  seen  it  repeated.* 


It  appears  from  the  Gospel  histories,  that  the 
women  who  had  attended  upon  Christ  during  hig 
ministry  failed  not  in  their  truth  and  their  love  to 
the  last.  In  the  various  circumstances  of  the  Pas- 
sion of  our  Lord,  where  the  Virgin  Mother  figures 
as  an  important  personage,  certain  of  these  women 
are  represented  as  alwavs  near  her,  and  sustaining 

*  Verona,  San  Bernardino.  It  is  worth  remarking,  with  re- 
jfard  to  this  picture,  that  the  Intendant  of  the  Convent  rebuked 
ihe  artist,  declaring  that  he  had  made  the  Saviour  show  too  little 
reverence  for  bis  Mother,  seeing  that  he  knelt  to  her  on  one  kne« 
%nl7. —  See  the  anecdote  in  Vasari,  vol.  i.  p.  651.  FI  Edit 
I88S. 


422  LEGENDS   OF    THE   MADONNA. 

her  with  a  tender  and  respectful  sympathy.  Three 
are  mentioned  by  name, — Mary  Magdalene ;  Mary 
the  wife  of  Cleophas;  and  Mary,  the  mother  of 
James  and  John.  Martha,  the  sister  of  Mary  Mag- 
dalene, is  also  mcluded,  as  I  infer  from  her  name, 
which  in  several  instances  is  inscribed  in  the  nim- 
bus encircling  her  head.  I  have  in  another  place 
given  the  story  of  Martha,  and  the  legends  which 
in  the  fourteenth  century  converted  her  into  a  very 
important  character  in  sacred  art.  (First  Series  of 
Sacred  and  Legendary  Art.)  These  women,  there- 
fore, form,  with  the  Virgin,  the  group  oijive  female 
figures  which  are  generally  included  in  the  scrip- 
tural scenes  from  the  Life  of  Christ. 

Of  course,  these  incidents,  and  more  especially 
the  "  Procession  to  Calvary,"  and  the  "  Crucifix- 
ion," belong  to  another  series  of  subjects,  which  I 
shall  have  to  treat  hereafter  in  the  History  of  our 
Lord  ;  but  they  are  also  included  in  a  series  of  the 
Rosary,  as  two  of  the  mystical  Sorrows  ;  and 
under  this  point  of  view  I  must  draw  attention  to 
the  peculiar  treatment  of  the  Virgin  in  some  re- 
markable examples,  which  will  serve  as  a  guide  to 
Others. 

The  Procession  to  Calvary  {11  Portamento  delta 
Croce)  followed  a  path  leading  from  the  gate  of 
Jerusalem  to  Mount  Calvary,  which  has  been  kept 
in  remembrance  and  sanctified  as  the  Via  Dolorosa 
and  there  is  a  certain  spot  near  the  summit  of  th« 
hill,  where,  according  to  a  very  ancient  tradition 


f^HE   PROCESSION   TO    CALVARY.  428 

fee  Virgin  Mother,  and  the  women  her  compan- 
ions, placed  themselves  to  witness  the  sorrowfu* 
procession;  where  the  Mother,  beholding  her  di- 
vine Son  dragged  along,  all  bleeding  from  the 
scourge,  and  sinking  under  his  cross,  in  her  ex- 
fcreme  agony  sank,  fainting,  to  the  earth.  This  in- 
cident gave  rise  to  one  of  the  mournful  festivals  of 
the  Passion  Week,  under  the  title,  in  French, 
of  Notre  Dame  du  Spasme  or  de  la  Pamoison ;  in 
Italian  La  Madonna  dello  Spasimo,  or  II  Pianto  di 
Maria  ;  and  this  is  the  title  given  to  some  of  those 
representations  in  which  the  affliction  of  Mary  is 
a  prominent  part  of  the  tragic  interest  of  the  scene. 
She  is  sometimes  sinking  to  the  earth,  sustained  by 
the  women  or  by  St.  John ;  sometimes  she  stands 
with  clasped  hands,  mute  and  motionless  with  excess 
of  anguish ;  sometimes  she  stretches  out  her  arms  to 
her  Son,  as  Jesus,  sinking  under  the  weight  of  his 
cross,  turns  his  benign  eyes  upon  her,  and  the  oth- 
ers who  follow  him :  "  Daughters  of  Jerusalem, 
weep  not  for  me  I " 

This  is  the  moment  chosen  by  Raphael  in  that 
sublime  composition  celebrated  under  the  title  "  Lo 
Spasimo  di  Sicilia  "  (Madrid  Gal.)  ;  so  called  be- 
cause it  was  originally  painted  for  the  high  altar  of 
the  church  of  the  Sicilian  Olivetans  at  Palermo, 
iedicated  to  the  Madonna  dello  Spasimo.  It  was 
thence  removed,  by  order  of  Philip  IV.  of  Spain, 
early  in  the  seventeenth  century,  and  is  now  placed 
in  the  gaiiery  at  Madrid.  Here  the  group  of  the 
Ive  women  forms  an  important  part  of  the  picture 


124  LEGENDS    OF    THE   MADONNA. 

occupjnng  the  foreground  on  the  right.  Th«  ex^ 
pression  in  the  face  of  the  Mother,  stretching  fortU 
her  arms  to  her  Son  with  a  look  of  appealing  ag- 
ony, has  always  been  cited  as  one  of  the  great  ex- 
amples of  Raphael's  tragic  power.  It  is  well  known 
that  in  this  composition  the  attitude  of  Christ  was 
suggested  by  the  contemporary  engraving  of  Mar- 
tin Schoen ;  but  the  prominence  given  to  the  group 
of  women,  the  dramatic  propriety  and  pathetic 
grace  in  the  action  of  each,  and  the  consummate 
skill  shown  in  the  arrangement  of  the  whole,  belong 
only  to  Raphael.*  In  Martin  Schoen*s  vivid  com- 
position, the  Virgin,  and  the  women  her  compan- 
ions, are  seen  far  off  in  the  background,  crouching 
in  the  "hollow  way"  between  two  cliffs,  from 
which  spot,  according  to  the  old  tradition,  they  be- 
held the  sad  procession.  We  have  quite  a  contrary 
arrangement  in  an  early  composition  by  Lucas  van 
Leyden.  The  procession  to  Calvary  is  seen  moving 
along  in  the  far  distance,  while  the  foreground  is 

*  The  veneration  at  all  times  entertained  for  this  picture  was 
probably  enhanced  by  a  remarkable  fact  in  its  history.  Baphael 
painted  it  towards  the  close  of  the  year  1517,  and  when  finished, 
It  was  embarked  at  the  port  of  Ostia,  to  be  consigned  to  Palermo. 
A  storm  came  on,  the  vessel  foundered  at  sea,  and  all  was  lost 
•xcept  the  case  containing  this  picture,  which  was  floated  by  th« 
currents  into  the  Bay  of  Genoa ;  and,  on  being  landed,  the  won- 
drous masterpiece  of  art  was  taken  out  unhurt.  The  Genoese 
at  first  refused  to  give  it  up,  insisting  that  it  had  been  preserved 
md  floated  to  their  shores  by  the  miraculous  interposition  of 
the  blessed  Virgin  herself;  and  it  required  a  positive  mandate 
Brom  the  Pope  before  they  would  restore  it  t6  the  Olivetan  t^ 
Omti.  ->  See  Passavant-s  Rafael,  i.  202. 


THE  PROCESSION   TO   CALVARY.  42ft 

iccupied  by  two  figures  only,  Mary  in  a  trance  of 
inguish  sustained  by  the  weeping  St.  John. 

In  a  very  fine  "  Portamento  del  Croce,"  by  Gau- 
denzio  Ferrari,  one  of  the  soldiers  or  executioners, 
in  repulsing  the  sorrowful  mother,  lifts  up  a  stick  as 
if  to  strike  her ;  —  a  gratuitous  act  of  ferocity,  which 
shocks  at  once  the  taste  and  the  feelings,  and,  with- 
out adding  anything  to  the  pathos  of  the  situation, 
detracts  from  the  religious  dignity  of  the  theme.  It 
is  like  the  soldier  kicking  our  Saviour,  which  I  re- 
member to  have  seen  in  a  version  of  the  subject  by 
a  much  later  painter,  Daniele  Crespi. 

Murillo  represents  Christ  as  fainting  under  the 
weight  of  the  cross,  while  the  Virgin  sits  on  the 
ground  by  the  way-side,  gazing  on  him  with  fixed 
eyes  and  folded  hands,  and  a  look  of  unutterable 
anguish.* 

The  Ecce  Homo,  by  Correggio,  in  our  National 
Gallery,  is  treated  in  a  very  pecuhar  manner  with 
reference  to  the  Virgin,  and  is,  in  fact,  another 
version  of  Lo  Spasimo,  the  fourth  of  her  ineffable 
Borrows.  Here  Christ,  as  exhibited  to  the  people 
by  Pilate,  is  placed  in  the  distance,  and  is  in  all  re- 
spects the  least  important  part  of  the  picture,  of 
which  we  have  the  real  subject  in  the  far  more 
prominent  figure  of  the  Virgin  in  the  foreground* 
At  sight  of  the  agony  and  degradation  of  her 
6on,  she  closes  her  eyes,  and  is  on  the  point  of 

*  This  picture,  remarkable  ibr  the  intense  expr^flsion,  WM  ii 
hB  collection  of  Lord  Orford,  and  sold  in  June,  1866 


^26  LEGENDS   OF   THE   MADONNA. 

swooning.  The  pathos  of  expression  in  the  half 
unconscious  face  and  helpless,  almost  lifeless  hand^ 
which  seem  to  seek  support,  is  particularly  fine. 


THE  CRUCIFIXION. 

"  Vemm  stabas,  optima  Mater,  juxta  crucem  lilii  tui,  BMi 
Bolum  corpore,  sed  mentis  constantia." 

This  great  subject  belongs  more  particularly  to 
the  Life  of  Christ.  It  is,  I  observe,  always  omitted 
in  a  series  of  the  Life  of  the  Virgin,  unless  it  be 
the  Rosary,  in  which  the  "  Vigil  of  the  Virgin  by 
the  Cross "  is  the  fifth  and  greatest  of  the  Seven 
Sorrows. 

We  cannot  fail  to  remark,  that  whether  the  Cru- 
cifixion be  treated  as  a  mystery  or  as  an  event, 
Mary  is  always  an  important  figure. 

In  the  former  case  she  stands  alone  on  the  right 
of  the  cross,  and  St.  John  on  the  left.*  She  looks 
up  with  an  expression  of  mingled  grief  and  faith, 
or  bows  her  head  upon  her  clasped  hands  in  resig- 
nation. In  such  a  position  she  is  the  idealized 
Mater  Dolorosa,  the  Daughter  of  Jerusalem,  the 
personified  Church  mourning  for  the  great  Sacri- 
fice ;  and  this  view  of  the  subject  I  have  already 
liscussed  at  length. 

♦  It  has  been  a  question  with  the  learned  whether  the  Vir^n 
Hary,  with  St.  John,  ought  not  to  stand  on  the  left  of  the  crosa, 
m  allusion  to  Psalm  cxlii.  (always  interpreted  as  prophetic  of  thf 
PMsion  of  Christ)  ver.  4  :  "  Hooked  on  my  right  hand,  and  U 
M4,  (Ml  tJun  was  none  who  wovld  know  fn«.'^ 


THE   CRUCIFIXION.  427 

On  the  other  hand,  when  the  Crucifixion  is 
Ireated  as  a  great  historical  event,  as  a  living 
scene  acted  before  our  eyes,  then  the  position  and 
sentiment  given  to  the  Virgin  are  altogether  dif- 
ferent, but  equally  fixed  by  the  traditions  of  art 
That  she  was  present,  and  near  at  hand,  we  must 
presume  from  the  Gospel  of  St.  John,  who  was  an 
eye-witness ;  and  most  of  the  theological  writers 
infer  that  on  this  occasion  her  constancy  and  sub- 
lime faith  were  even  greater  than  her  grief,  and 
that  her  heroic  fortitude  elevated  her  equally 
above  the  weeping  women  and  the  timorous  dis- 
ciples. This  is  not,  however,  the  view  which  the 
modern  painters  have  taken,  and  even  the  most ' 
ancient  examples  exhibit  the  maternal  grief  for  a 
while  overcoming  the  constancy.  She  is  standing 
indeed,  but  in  a  fainting  attitude,  as  if  about  to 
sink  to  the  earth,  and  is  sustained  in  the  arms  of 
the  two  Marys,  assisted,  sometimes,  but  not  gen- 
erally, by  St.  John ;  Mary  Magdalene  is  usually 
embracing  the  foot  of  the  cross.  With  very  little 
variation  this  is  the  usual  treatment  down  to  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century.  I  do  not 
know  who  was  the  first  artist  who  placed  the 
Mother  prostrate  on  the  ground;  but  it  must  be 
regarded  as  a  fault,  and  as  detracting  from  the 
high  religious  dignity  of  the  scene.  In  all  the 
greatest  examples,  from  Cimabue,  Giotto,  and 
Pietro  Cavallini,  down  to  Angelico,  Masaccio, 
and  Andrea  Mantegna,  and  their  contemporaries. 
Mary  is  uniformlv  standing 


128      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

In  a  Crucifixion  by  Martin  Schoen,  the  Virgin, 
partly  held  up  in  the  arms  of  St.  John,  embraces 
with  fervour  the  foot  of  the  cross :  a  very  rare  and 
exceptional  treatment,  for  this  is  the  proper  place 
of  Mary  Magdalene.  In  Albert  Durer*s  composi- 
tion, she  is  just  in  the  act  of  sinking  to  the  ground 
in  a  very  natural  attitude,  as  if  her  limbs  had  given 
way  under  her.  In  Tintoretto's  celebrated  Cruci- 
fixion, we  have  an  example  of  the  Virgin  placed 
on  the  ground,  which  if  not  one  of  the  earliest,  is 
one  of  the  most  striking  of  the  more  modern  con- 
ceptions. Here  the  group  at  the  foot  of  the  cross 
is  wonderfully  dramatic  and  expressive,  but  cer- 
tainly the  reverse  of  dignified.  Mary  lies  faint- 
ing on  the  earth ;  one  arm  is  sustained  by  St 
John,  the  other  is  round  the  neck  of  a  woman 
who  leans  against  the  bosom  of  the  Virgin,  with 
eyes  closed,  as  if  lost  in  grief.  Mary  Magdalen€ 
and  another  look  up  to  the  crucified  Saviour,  and 
more  in  front  a  woman  kneels  wrapped  up  in  a 
cloak,  and  hides  her  face.     (Venice,  S.  Rocco.) 

Zani  has  noticed  the  impropriety  here,  and  in 
other  instances,  of  exhibiting  the  "  Grandissima 
Jhnna**  as  prostrate,  and  in  a  state  of  insensi- 
bility; a  style  of  treatment  which,  in  more  an- 
cient times,  would  have  been  inadmissible.  The 
idea  embodied  by  the  artist  should  be  that  which 
Bishop  Taylor  has  painted  in  words :  —  "By  the 
eross  stood  the  holy  Virgin  Mother,  i^pon  whom 
old  Simeon's  prophecy  was  now  verified ;  for  now 
ihe  felt   a  sword  passing  through   her  very  soul 


THE   CRUCIFIXION.  42$ 

She  stood  without  clamour  and  womanish  noises* 
lad,  silent,  and  with  a  modest  grief,  deep  as  the 
waters  of  the  abyss,  but  smooth  as  the  face  of  a 
pool ;  full  of  love,  and  patience,  and  sorrow,  and 
hope ! "  To  suppose  that  this  noble  creature  lost 
all  power  over  her  emotions,  lost  her  consciousness 
of  the  "  high  affliction  "  she  was  called  to  suffer,  is 
quite  unworthy  of  the  grand  ideal  of  womanly  per- 
fection here  placed  before  us.  It  is  clear,  however, 
that  in  the  later  representations,  the  intense  ex- 
pression of  maternal  anguish  in  the  hymn  of  the 
Stabat  Mater  gave  the  key  to  the  prevailing  senti- 
ment. And  as  it  is  sometimes  easier  to  faint  than 
to  endure;  so  it  was  easier  for  certain  artists  to 
express  the  pallor  and  prostration  of  insensibility, 
than  the  sublime  faith  and  fortitude  which  in  that 
extremest  hour  of  trial  conquered  even  a  mother's 
unutterable  woe. 

That  most  affecting  moment,  in  which  the  dying 
Saviour  recommends  his  Mother  to  the  care  of  the 
best  beloved  of  his  disciples,  I  have  never  seen 
worthily  treated.  There  are,  however,  some  few 
Crucifixions  in  which  I  presume  the  idea  to  have 
been  indicated ;  as  where  the  Virgin  stands  lean 
ing  on  St.  John,  with  his  sustaining  arm  reverently 
round  her,  and  both  looking  up  to  the  Saviour, 
whose  dying  face  is  turned  towards  them.  There 
IS  an  instance  by  Albert  Durer  (the  wood-cut  in 
the  "  Large  Passion")  ;  but  the  examples  are  so 
Csw  as  to  be  exceptional. 


28 


130      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

The  Descent  from  the  Cross,  and  the  Dep- 
OSiTiON,  are  two  separate  themes.  In  the  first, 
according  to  the  antique  formula,  the  Virgin  should 
rtand ;  for  here,  as  in  the  Crucifixion,  she  must  be 
associated  with  the  principal  action,  and  not,  by 
the  excess  of  ler  grief,  disabled  from  taking  her 
part  in  it.  In  the  old  legend  it  is  said,  that  when 
Joseph  of  Arimathea  and  Nicodemus  wrenched  out 
the  nails  which  fastened  the  hands  of  our  Lord  to 
the  cross,  St.  John  took  them  away  secretly,  that 
his  mother  might  not  see  them  —  "  affin  que  la  Vi- 
erge  Marie  ne  les  veil  pas,  crainte  que  le  coeur  ne  lui 
atnolist"  And  then,  while  Nicodemus  drew  forth 
the  nails  which  fastened  his  feet,  Joseph  of  An- 
mathea  sustained  the  body,  so  that  the  head  and 
arms  of  the  dead  Saviour  hung  over  his  shoulder. 
And  the  afflicted  Mother,  seeing  this,  arose  on  her 
feet,  and  she  took  the  bleeding  hands  of  her  Son, 
as  they  hung  down,  and  clasped  them  in  her  own, 
and  kissed  him  tenderly.  And  then,  indeed,  she 
Bank  to  the  earth,  because  of  the  great  anguish  she 
raffered,  lamenting  her  Son,  whom  the  cruel  Jews 
had  murdered.* 


*** tant  qu'il  n'y  a  coeur  si  dur,  ni  entendement  d'hommt 

f ni  n'y  deust  penser.  ^  Lasse,  mon  confort !  m'amour  et  nui 
toye,  que  les  Juifz  ont  faict  mourir  k  grand  tort  et  sans  cauM 
pour  ce  qu'il  leur  monstrait  leurs  faultes  et  enseignoit  leux 
laulrement !  0  felons  et  mauvais  Juifz,  ne  m'epargnez  paa  I  pu- 
Isque  vous  cruciflez  mon  enfant  crucifiez  moy  —  moy  qui  suis  ss 
Aolente  mere,  et  me  tuez  d'aucune  mort  affin  que  je  meure  arei 
>iiy  ! '  "  V.  The  old  French  Legend,  ''  Vie  de  Notre-Dame  laglori- 
Mife  Vierge  Mww." 


THE   DESCENT   FROM    THE    CROSS.  4jJl 

The  first  action  described  in  this  legend  (the  af- 
flicted Mother  embracing  the  arm  of  her  Son)  is 
precisely  that  which  was  adopted  by  the  Greek 
masters,  and  by  the  early  Italians  who  followed 
them,  Nicolo  Pisano,  Cimabue,  Giotto,  Puccio  Ca- 
panna,  Duccio  di  Siena,  and  others  from  the  thir- 
teenth to  the  fifteenth  century.  But  in  later  pic- 
tures, the  Virgin  in  the  extremity  of  her  grief  has 
sunk  to  the  ground.  In  an  altar-piece  by  Cigoli, 
she  is  seated  on  the  earth,  lobking  out  of  the  pic- 
ture, as  if  appealing,  "  Was  ever  sorrow  like  unto 
my  sorrow  ?  "  while  the  crown  of  thorns  lies  before 
her.  This  is  very  beautiful ;  but  even  more  touch- 
ing is  the  group  in  the  famous  *'  Descent  from  the 
Cross,"  the  masterpiece  of  Daniel  di  Volterra 
(Rome,  Trinitk  di  Monte)  :  here  the  fainting  form 
of  the  Virgin,  extended  on  the  earth,  and  the  dy- 
ing anguish  in  her  face,  have  never  been  exceeded, 
and  are,  in  fact,  the  chief  merit  of  the  picture.  In 
the  famous  Descent  at  Antwerp,  the  masterpiece  of 
Rubens,  Mary  stands,  and  supports  the  arm  of  her 
Son  as  he  is  let  down  from  the  cross.  This  is  in 
accordance  with  the  ancient  version  ;  but  her  face 
and  figure  are  the  least  efiective  part  of  this  fine 
picture. 

In  a  beautiful  small  composition,  a  print,  attrib- 
nted  to  Albert  Durer,  there  are  only  three  figures. 
Joseph  of  Arimathea  stands  on  a  ladder,  and  de- 
taches from  the  cross  the  dead  form  of  the  Saviour, 
i^rho  is  received  into  t'ne  arms  of  his  Mother.  This 
JB  a  form  of  the  MaXer  Dolorosa  which  is  very  un- 


432  LEGENDS    OF   THE   MADONNA. 

common,  and  must  be  regarded  as  exceptional  and 
ideal,  unless  we  are  to  consider  it  as  a  study  and  an 
incomplete  group. 


The  Deposition  is  properly  that  moment 
which  succeeds  the  Descent  from  the  Cross; 
when  the  dead  form  of  Christ  is  deposed  or  laid 
upon  the  ground,  resting  on  the  lap  of  his  Mother, 
and  lamented  by  St.  John,  the  Magdalene,  and 
others.  The  ideal  and  devotional  form  of  this  sub- 
ject, styled  a  Pietk,  may  be  intended  to  represent 
one  of  those  festivals  of  the  Passion  Week  which 
commemorate  the  participation  of  the  holy  Virgin 
Mother  in  the  sufferings  of  her  Son.*  I  have  al- 
ready spoken  at  length  of  this  form  of  the  Mater 
Dolorosa ;  the  historical  version  of  the  same  sub- 
ject is  what  we  have  now  to  consider,  but  only  so 
far  as  regards  the  figure  of  the  Virgin. 

In  a  Deposition  thus  dramatically  treated,  there 
are  always  from  four  to  six  or  eight  figures.  The 
principal  group  consists  of  the  dead  Saviour  and 
his  Mother.  She  generally  holds  him  embraced, 
or  bends  over  him  contemplating  his  dead  face,  or 
lays  her  cheek  to  his  with  an  expression  of  unutter- 
able  grief  and  love  :  in  the  antique  conception  she 
b  generally  fainting ;  the  insensibility,  the  sinking 
•f  the  whole  frame  through  grief,  which  in  the  Cru- 

♦  C'est  ce  que  I'on  a  jug6  k  propos  d'appeler  La  Compassion 
Ib  la  Vierge,  autrement  Notre  Dame  de  Pi^."—  Vide  AmBcI 
'*  Les  Fdtes  MobilM." 


THE   DEPOSITION.  43S 

rifixion  is  misplaced,  both  in  regard  to  the  religious 
feeling  and  the  old  tradition,  is  here  quite  proper.* 
Thus  she  appears  in  the  genuine  Greek  and  Gre- 
co-Italian productions  of  the  thirteenth  and  four- 
teenth centuries,  as  well  as  in  the  two  finest  ex 
amples  that  could  be  cited  in  more  modern 
times. 

1.  In  an  exquisite  composition  by  Raphael,  usu- 
ally styled  a  Pietk,  but  properly  a  Deposition, 
there  are  six  figures:  the  extended  form  of 
Christ;  the  Virgin  swooning  in  the  arms  of 
Mary  Salome  and  Mary  Cleophas ;  Mary  Mag- 
dalene sustains  the  feet  of  Christ,  while  her 
sister  Martha  raises  the  veil  of  the  Virgin,  as 
if  to  give  her  air;  St.  John  stands  by  with 
clasped  hands;  and  Joseph  of  Arimathea  looks 
on  the  sorrowing  group  with  mingled  grief  and 
pity.t 

2.  Another,  an  admirable  and  celebrated  com- 
position by  Annibale  Caracci,  known  as  the  Four 
Marys,  omits  Martha  and  St.  John.  The  atten- 
tion of  Mary  Magdalene  is  fixed  on  the  dead  Sav- 
iour; the  other  two  Marys  are  occupied  by  the 
fainting  Mother.  (Castle  Howard.)  On  compar- 
ing this  with  Raphael's  conception,  we  find  more 

*  The  reason  given  is  curious :  —  "  Perchi  quando  GestL  pareva 
tonnentato  essendo  vivo^  il  dolore  si  partiva  frd  la  santissima 
Wiadre  e  lui  /  ma  quando  poi  egli  era  morto^  tutto  il  dolore  ritHO* 
%Bva  per  la  sconsolata  madre.'^ 

1  This  wonderful  drawing  (there  is  no  finished  picture)  was  in 
tie  collection  of  Count  Fries,  and  then  oeilonged  to  Sir  T.  Law 
mam.    There  is  a  good  engraying  by  Agricola. 


434  LEGENDS   OF    THE   MADONNA. 

of  common  nature,  quite  as  much  pathos,  but  in 
the  forms  less  of  that  pure  poetic  grace,  which 
Boflens  at  once,  and  heightens  the  tragic  effect. 

Besides  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  we  have  some- 
times Nicodemus ;  as  in  the  very  fine  Deposition 
by  Perugino,  and  in  one,  not  less  fine,  by  Albert 
Durer.  In  a  Deposition  by  Ambrogio  Lorenzetti, 
Lazarus,  whom  Jesus  raised  from  the  dead,  stands 
near  his  sister  Martha. 

In  a  picture  by  Vandyck,  the  Mother  closes  the 
eyes  of  the  dead  Redeemer :  in  a  picture  by  Ru- 
bens, she  removes  a  thorn  from  his  wounded  brow : 
—  both  natural  and  dramatic  incidents  very  char- 
acteristic of  these  dramatic  painters. 

There  are  some  fine  examples  of  this  subject  in 
the  old  German  school.  In  spite  of  ungraceful 
forms,  quaint  modern  costumes,  and  worse  absurdi- 
ties, we  often  find  motifs,  unknown  in  the  Italian 
school,  most  profoundly  felt,  though  not  always 
happily  expressed.  I  remember  several  instances 
in  which  the  Madonna  does  not  sustain  her  Son ; 
but  kneeling  on  one  side,  and  with  clasped  hands, 
she  gazes  on  him  with  a  look,  partly  of  devotion, 
partly  of  resignation ;  both  the  devotion  and  the 
resignation  predominating  over  the  maternal  grief. 
I  have  been  asked,  "why  no  painter  has  ever 
jret  represented  the  Great  Mother  as  raising  her 
aands  in  thankfulness  that  her  Son  had  drank  the 
tup  —  had  finished  the  work  appointed  for  him  on 
earth?**  This  would  have  been  worthy  of  thd 
'sligious  ugnificance  of  the  moment;   and  I  reo 


THE   ENTOMBMENT.  435 

wnmend  the   theme   to  the  consideration  of  ar- 
lists.*    / 


The  Entombment  follows,  and  when  treatea 
as  a  strictly  historical  scene,  the  Virgin  Mother  is 
always  introduced,  though  here  as  a  less  conspicu- 
ous figure,  and  one  less  important  to  the  action. 
Either  she  swoons,  which  is  the  ancient  Greek 
conception ;  or  she  follows,  with  streaming  eyes 
and  clasped  hands,  the  pious  disciples  who  bear 
the  dead  form  of  her  Son,  as  in  Raphael's  wonder- 
ful picture  in  the  Borghese  Palace,  and  Titian's, 
hardly  less  beautiful,  in  the  Louvre,  where  the 
compassionate  Magdalene  sustains  her  veiled  and 
weeping  figure ;  —  or  she  stands  by,  looking  on 
disconsolate,  while  the  beloved  Son  is  laid  in  the 
tomb. 

•  All  these  fine  and  important  themes  belong 
properly  to  a  series  of  the  History  of  Christ.  In 
a  series  of  the  Life  of  the  Virgin,  the  incidents  of 
the  Passion  of  our  Lord  are  generally  omitted; 
whereas,  in  the  cycle  of  subjects  styled  the  Rosa- 
ry, the  Bearing  of  the  Cross,  the  Crucifixion,  and 

*  In  the  most  modern  Deposition  I  have  seen  (one  of  infinite 
beauty,  and  new  in  arrangement,  by  Paul  Delaroehe),  the  Vir- 
gin, kneeling  at  some  distance,  and  a  little  above,  contemplates 
her  dead  Son,  The  expression  and  attitude  are  those  of  in  tens* 
Aguish,  and  only  anguish.  It  is  \h.Q  bereaved  Mother  ;  it  is  a 
Iraving  desolation,  which  is  in  the  highest  degree  human  anj 
■ragic ;  bit  it  is  not  the  trv <y  religious  conception. 


436      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

the  Deposition,  are  included  in  the  fourth  and 
fifth  of  the  "  Sorrowful  Mysteries."  I  shall  have 
much  more  to  say  on  these  subjects  when  treating 
of  the  artistic  representations  from  the  History  of 
Christ,  I  will  only  add  here,  that  their  frequency 
as  separate  subjects,  and  the  preeminence  given  to 
the  figure  of  the  Virgin  as  the  Mother  of  Pity,  are 
very  suggestive  and  afiecting  when  we  come  to 
consider  their  intention  as  well  as  their  significance. 
For,  in  the  first  place,  they  were  in  most  instances 
the  votive  offerings  of  those  who  had  lost  the  being 
most  dear  to  them,  and  thus  appealed  to  the  divine 
compassion  of  her  who  had  felt  that  sword  "  pierce 
through  her  own  heart  also."  In  this  sense  they 
were  often  suspended  as  memorials  in  the  chapels 
dedicated  to  the  dead,  of  which  I  will  cite  one  very 
beautiful  and  touching  example.  There  is  a  votive 
Deposition  by  Giottino,  in  which  the  general  con- 
ception is  that  which  belonged  to  the  school,  and 
very  like  Giotto's  Deposition  in  the  Arena  at  Pad- 
ua. The  dead  Christ  is  extended  on  a  white 
Bhroud,  and  embraced  by  the  Virgin ;  at  his  feet 
kneels  the  Magdalene,  with  clasped  hands  and 
flowing  hair ;  Mary  Salome  kisses  one  of  his  hands, 
and  Martha  (as  I  suppose)  the  other;  the  third 
Mary,  with  long  hair,  and  head  drooping  with 
grief,  is  seated  in  front  to  the  right.  In  the  back- 
ground, in  the  centre,  stands  St.  John,  bending 
over  the  group  in  profound  sorrow ;  on  his  left 
hand  Joseph  of  Arimathea  stands  with  the  vase  of 
^spices  and  ointments,"  and  the  nails;  near  hiu 


THE    ENTOMBMENT.  431 

Nicodemus.  On  the  right  of  St.  John  kneels  a 
beautiful  young  girl,  in  the  rich  Florentine  cos^ 
tume,  who,  with  a  sorrowful  earnestness  and  with 
her  hands  crossed  over  her  bosom,  contemplates 
the  dead  Saviour.  St.  Romeo  (or  San  Remigio) 
patron  of  the  church  in  which  the  picture  was  ded- 
icated, lays  his  hand  paternally  on  her  head ;  be- 
side her  kneels  a  Benedictine  nun,  who  in  the 
same  manner  is  presented  by  St.  Benedict.  These 
two  females,  sisters  perhaps,  are  the  bereaved 
mourners  who  dedicated  the  picture,  certainly  one 
of  the  finest  of  the  Glottesque  school.* 

Secondly,  we  find  that  the  associations  left  in  the 
minds  of  the  people  by  the  expeditions  of  the  Cru- 
saders and  the  pilgrimages  to  the  Holy  Sepulchre, 
rendered  the  Deposition  and  the  Entombment  par- 
ticularly popular  and  impressive  as  subjects  of  art, 
even  down  to  a  late  period.  "  Ce  que  la  vaillante 
€p^e  des  ayeux  avait  glorieusement  defendu,  le 
ciseaux  des  enfans  aimait  k  le  r^produire,  leva 
piet^  k  rhonorer."    I  think  we  may  trace  these 

*  It  is  now  in  the  gallery  of  the  TJffizii,  at  Florence.  In  th* 
Florentine  edition  of  Vasari  the  name  of  the  church  in  which 
this  picture  was  originally  placed  is  called  San  Romeo,  who  is 
Bt.  Remi  (or  Remigio),  Bishop  of  Reims.  The  painter,  Giottinu, 
the  greatest  and  the  most  interesting,  personally,  of  the  Giot* 
tesque  artists,  was,  as  Vasari  says,  "  of  a  melancholy  tempera- 
ment, and  a  lover  of  solitude ;  "  "  more  desirous  of  glory  than 
of  gain  ;  "  "  contented  with  little,  ansl  thinking  more  of  semng 
Ad  gratifying  others  than  of  himself;  "  *'  flaking  small  care  fof 
himself,  and  perpetually  engrossed  by  the  works  he  had  undevw 
teken."    He  died  of  consumption,  in  1856,  at  the  age  <^  thirty 


^38  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MADONNA. 

associations  in  many  examples,  particularly  in  a 
Deposition  by  Raphael,  of  which  there  is  a  fine  old 
engraving.  Here,  in  the  centre,  stands  a  circular 
building,  such  as  the  church  at  Jerusalem  was  al- 
ways described;  in  front  of  which  are  seen  the 
fainting  Virgin  and  the  mom'nful  women ;  a  grand 
and  solemn  group,  but  poetically  rather  than  his- 
torically treated. 

In  conclusion,  I  must  notice  one  more  form  of 
the  Mater  Dolorosa,  one  of  the  dramatic  concep- 
tions of  the  later  schools  of  art :  as  far  as  I  know, 
there  exist  no  early  examples. 

In  a  picture  by  Guercino  (Louvre),  the  Virgin 
and  St.  Peter  lament  the  death  of  the  Saviour. 
The  Mother,  with  her  clasped  hands  resting  on  her 
knees,  appears  lost  in  resigned  sorrow :  she  mourns 
her  Son.  Peter,  weeping,  as  with  a  troubled  grief, 
seems  to  mourn  at  once  his  Lord  and  Master,  and 
his  own  weak  denial.  This  picture  has  the  ener- 
getic feeling  and  utter  want  of  poetic  elevation 
which  generally  characterized  Guercino. 

There  is  a  similar  group  by  Ludovico  Caracci 
in  the  Duomo  at  Bologna. 

In  a  picture  by  Tiarini,  the  Madre  Addolorata 
is  seated,  holding  in  her  hand  the  crown  of  thorns ; 
Mary  Magdalene  kneels  before  her,  and  St.  John 
stands  by  —  both  expressing  the  utmost  veneration 
and  sympathy.  These  and  similar  groups  ar€ 
especially  to  be  found  in  the  later  Bologna  school 
\n  all  the  instances  known  to  me,  they  have  bee» 


THE   ENTOMBMENT.  439 

painted  for  the  Dominicans,  and  evidently  in- 
tended to  illustrate  the  sorrows  of  the  Rosary. 

In  one  of  the  services  of  the  Passion  Week,  and 
in  particular  reference  to  the  maternal  anguish  of 
the  Virgin,  it  was  usual  to  read,  as  the  Epistle,  a 
selection  from  the  first  chapter  of  the  Lamenta- 
tions of  Jeremiah,  eloquent  in  the  language  of  des- 
olation and  grief.  The  painters  seemed  to  have 
filled  their  imagination  with  the  images  there  pre- 
sented ;  and  frequently  in  the  ideal  Pieia  the 
daughter  of  Jerusalem  "  sits  solitary,  with  none  to 
comfort  her."  It  is  the  contrary  in  the  dramatic 
version:  the  devotion  of  the  women,  the  solicitude 
of  the  affectionate  Magdalene,  and  the  filial  rever- 
ence of  St.  John,  whom  the  scriptural  history  asso- 
ciates with  the  Virgin  in  a  manner  so  affecting,  are 
never  forgotten. 

In  obedience  to  the  last  command  of  his  dying 
Master,  John  the  Evangelist  — 

"  He,  into  whose  keeping,  fi*oin  the  cross, 
The  mighty  charge  was  given  —  " 

Dante. 

conducted  to  his  own  dwelling  the  Mother  to  whom 
he  was  henceforth  to  be  as  a  Son.  This  beautiful 
lubject,  "  John  conducting  the  Virgin  to  his  home," 
•ras  quite  unknown,  as  far  as  I  am  aware,  in  the 
earlier  schools  of  art,  and  appears  first  in  the  sev- 
enteenth century.  An  eminent  instance  is  a  fine 
iolemn  group  by  Zurbaran.  (Munich.)  Christ 
was  laid  in  the  sepulchre  by  night,  and  here,  in  the 


i40  LEGENDS   OF    THE   MADONNA. 

gray  dawn,  John  and  the  veiled  Virgin  are  seen 
as  returning  from  the  entombment,  and  walking 
mournfully  side  by  side. 

We  find  the  peculiar  relation  between  the 
Mother  of  Christ  and  St.  John,  as  her  adopted  son, 
expressed  in  a  very  tender  and  ideal  manner,  on 
one  of  the  wings  of  an  altar-piece,  attributed  to 
Taddeo  Gaddi.  (Berlin  Gal.,  No.  1081.)  Mary 
and  St.  John  stand  in  front ;  he  hii^lds  one  of  her 
hands  clasped  in  both  his  own,  with  a  most  revei^ 
ent  and  affectionate  expression.  Christ,  standing 
between  them,  lays  one  hand  on  the  shoulder  oi 
each:  the  sentiment  of  this  grou{^  is  altogetlief 
very  unusual;  and  very  remarkab^. 


mSTOKICAL    SUBJECTS. 


PART  IV. 

THE  LIFE  OF  THE  VIRGIN  MARY  FROM 
THE  RESURRECTION  OF  OUR  LORD 
TO  THE  ASSUMPTION. 

1.  THE  APPARITION  OF  CHRIST  TO  HIS  MOTH- 
ER. 2.  THE  ASCENSION.  3.  THE  DESCENT  OF 
THE  HOLY  GHOST.  4.  THE  DEATH  OF  THE  VIB- 
aiN.      5.    THE   ASSUMPTION   AND   CORONATION. 

THE  APPARITION  OF  CHRIST  TO  HIS  MOTHER. 

The  enthusiastic  and  increasing  veneration  foi 
the  Madonna,  the  large  place  she  filled  in  the 
religious  teaching  of  the  ecclesiastics  and  the  re- 
ligious sentiments  of  the  people,  are  nowhere 
more  apparent,  nor  more  strikingly  exhibited,  than 
in  the  manner  in  which  she  was  associated  with  the 
Bcenes  which  followed  the  Passion  ;  —  the  manner 
in  which  some  incidents  were  suggested,  and  treat- 
ed with  a  peculiar  reference  to  her,  and  to  her 
maternal  feelings.  It  is  nowhere  said  that  the 
Virgin  Mother  was  one  of  the  Marys  who  visited 
the  tomb  on  the  morning  of  the  resurrection,  and 
nowhere  is  she  so  represented.  But  out  of  the  hu- 
^lan  sympathy  witk  that  bereaved  and  lon^g 


142  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MADONNA. 

heart,  arose  the  beautiful  legend  of  the  interview 
between  Christ  and  his  Mother  after  he  had  risen 
from  the  dead. 

There  existed  a  very  ancient  tradition  (it  is 
mentioned  by  St.  Ambrose  in  the  fourth  century, 
as  being  then  generally  accepted  by  Christians), 
that  Christ,  after  his  return  from  Hades,  visited  his 
Mother  even  before  he  appeared  to  Mary  Magda- 
lene in  the  garden.  It  is  not  indeed  so  written  in 
the  Gospel;  but  what  of  that?  The  reasoning 
which  led  to  the  conclusion  was  very  simple.  He 
whose  last  earthly  thought  was  for  his  Mother 
would  not  leave  her  without  that  consolation  it  was 
in  his  power  to  give  ;  and  what,  as  a  son,  it  was  his 
duty  to  do  (for  the  humanity  of  Christ  is  never  for- 
gotten by  those  who  most  intensely  believed  in  his 
divinity^)  that,  of  course,  he  did  do. 

The  story  is  thus  related  :  —  Mary,  when  all  was 
"  finished,"  retired  to  her  chamber,  and  remained 
alone  with  her  grief — not  wailing,  not  repining, 
not  hopeless,  but  waiting  for  the  fulfilment  of  the 
promise.  Open  before  her  lay  the  volume  of  the 
prophecies;  and  she  prayed  earnestly,  and  she 
said,  "  Thou  did«t  promise,  O  my  most  dear  Son  I 
that  thou  wouldst  rise  again  on  the  third  day. 
Before  yesterday  was  the  day  of  darkness  and  bit- 
terness, and,  behold,  this  is  the  third  day.  Return 
then  to  me  thy  Mother ;  O  my  Son,  tarry  not,  but 
come  1  **  And  while  thus  she  prayed,  lo  !  a  biighl 
company  of  angels,  who  entered  waving  their 
fMJms  and  radiant  with  joy ;  and  they  surrounded 


APPARITION   OF    CHRIST    TO   HIS    MOTHER.   44S 

Oer,  kneeling  and  singing  the  triumphant  Easter 
hymn,  Regina  Coeli  Icetare,  Alleluia  I  *  And  then 
came  Christ  partly  clothed  in  a  white  garment, 
having  in  his  left  hand  the  standard  of  the  cross,  aa 
one  just  returned  from  the  nether  world,  and  victo- 
rious over  the  powers  of  sin  and  death.  And  with 
him  came  the  patriarchs  and  prophets,  whose  long- 
imprisoned  spirits  he  had  released  from  Hades.f 
All  these  knelt  before  the  Virgin,  and  saluted  her, 
and  blessed  her,  and  thanked  her,  because  through 
her  had  come  their  deliverance.  But,  for  all  this, 
the  Mother  was  not  comforted  till  she  had  heard 
the  voice  of  her  Son.  Then  he,  raising  his  hand 
in  benediction,  spoke  and  said,  "  I  salute  thee,  O 
my  Mother ! "  and  she,  weeping  tears  of  joy,  re- 
sponded, "  Is  it  thou  indeed,  my  most  dear  Son  ?  " 
and  she  fell  upon  his  neck,  and  he  embraced  her 
tenderly,  and  showed  her  the  wounds  he  had  re- 
ceived for  sinful  man.  Then  he  bid  her  be  com- 
forted and  weep  no  more,  for  the  pain  of  death 
had  passed  away,  and  the  gates  of  hell  had  not 
prevailed  against  him.  And  she  thanked  him 
meekly  on  her  knees,  for  that  he  had  been  pleased 
to  bring  redemption  to  man,  and  to  make  her  the 
humble  instrument  of  his  great  mercy.     And  thej 

*  *'  Regina  Coeli  laetare  Alleluia ! 

Quia  quern  meruisti  portare,  Alleluia ! 
Resurrexit  sicut  dixit.  Alleluia ! 
Ura  pro  nobis  Deum,  Alleluia  !  " 
t  Thi9  legend  of  the  "  Descend  into  Hades  '  (or  limbo),  often 
created  of  in  art,  will  be  giyen  at  length  v.  the  History  of  ovi 
Und. 


144  LEGENDS   OF   THE   MADONNA. 

sat  and  talked  together,  until  he  took  leave  of 
her  to  return  to  the  garden,  and  to  show  him- 
Belf  to  Mary  Magdalene,  who,  next  to  his  glorious 
Mother,  had  most  need  of  consolation.* 

The  pathetic  sentiment,  and  all  the  supernatural 
and  mystical  accompaniments  of  this  beautiful 
myth  of  the  early  ages,  have  been  very  inade- 
quately rendered  by  the  artists.  It  is  always 
treated  as  a  plain  matter-of-fact  scene.  The  Vir- 
gin kneels ;  the  Saviour,  bearing  his  standard, 
stands  before  her ;  and  where  the  delivered  patri- 
archs are  introduced,  they  are  generally  either 
Adam  and  Eve,  the  authors  of  the  fall,  or  Abraham 
and  David,  the  progenitors  of  Christ  and  the  Vir- 
gin. The  patriarchs  are  omitted  in  the  earliest  in- 
stance I  can  refer  to,  one  of  the  carved  panels  of 
the  stalls  in  the  Cathedral  of  Amiens ;  also  in  the 

*  I  have  given  the  legend  from  various  sources ;  but  there  is 
something  quite  untranslatable  and  perfectly  beautiful  in  the 
naivete  of  the  old  Italian  version.  After  describing  the  celestial 
music  of  the  angels,  the  rejoicing  of  the  liberated  patriarchs,  and 
the  appearance  of  Christ,  allegro^  e  hello  e  tutto  lucido,  it  thus 
proceeds  :  "  Quando  ella  lo  vidde^  gli  andd  incontro  ella  ancora 
eon  le  braccia  aperte^  e  quasi  tramortita  per  V  allegrezza.  11  be- 
nedetto Gesd  V  abbraccio  teneressimamente,  ed  ella  ghdisse;  '•Ahi^ 
Jigliuolo  mio  cordialissimo,  sei  tu  veramente  U  mio  Gesil,  d  pur 
nC  inganna  V  affetto ."  ^lo  sono  il  tuo  Jigliuolo^  madre  mia  dot- 
tissimti,'*  disse  il  Signore :  '  cessino  hormai  le  tue  lagrime^  nan 
fare  cA'  to  ti  veda  piU  di  mala  voglia.  Grid  sonfiniti  li  tuoi  e  h 
miei  travagli  e  dolori  insieme! '  Erano  rimase  alcune  lagritne  n# 
f^li  occhi  deUa  Vergine  .  .  .  .  e  per  la  grande  allegrezza  non  po 

teva  pro/erire  parola  alcuna ma  quando  aljine  poti  par 

lore,  lo  ringrazio  per  parte  di  tutto  il  genere  humano^  per  la  re. 
ienzxone^  operata  efatta^  per  tutto  generalmente."  —  v.  II  Per/et- 
#  Legendario 


APPARITION   OF   CHRIST    TO   HIS    MOTHER.   445 

composition  by  Albert  Durer,  not  included  in  his 
life  of  the  Virgin,  but  forming  one  of  the  series  of 
the  Passion.  Guido  has  represented  the  scene  in 
a  very  fine  picture,  wherein  an  angel  bears  the 
standard  of  victory,  and  behind  our  Saviour  are 
Adam  and  Eve.     (Dresden  Gal.) 

Another  example,  by  Guercino  (Cathedral,  Cen- 
to), is  cited  by  Goethe  as  an  instance  of  that  excel- 
ence  in  the  expression  of  the  natural  and  domestic 
affections  which  characterized  the  painter.  Mary 
kneels  before  her  Son,  looking  up  In  his  face  with 
unutterable  affection  ;  he  regards  her  with  a  calm, 
sad  look,  "  as  if  within  his  noble  soul  there  still  re- 
mained the  recollection  of  his  sufferings  and  hers, 
outliving  the  pang  of  death,  the  descent  into  the 
grave,  and  which  the  resurrection  had  not  yet  dis- 
pelled." This,  however,  is  not  the  sentiment,  at 
once  affectionate  and  joyously  triumphant,  of  the 
old  legend.  I  was  pleased  with  a  little  picture  in 
the  LIchtenstein  Gallery  at  Vienna,  where  the 
risen  Saviour,  standing  before  his  Mother,  points  to 
the  page  of  the  book  before  her,  as  if  he  said,  "  See 
you  not  that  thus  it  is  written  ?  "  (Luke  xxiv.  46.) 
Behind  Jesus  is  St.  John  the  Evangelist  bearing 
the  cup  and  the  cross,  as  the  cup  of  sorrow  and  the 
cross  of  pain,  not  the  mere  emblems.  There  ia 
another  example,  by  pne  of  the  Caracci,  in  the 
Fitzwilliam  Collection  at  Cambridge. 

A  picture  by  Albano  of  this  subject,  in  which 
Christ  comes  flying  or  floating  on  the  air,  like  an 
incorporeal  being,  surrounded  by  little  fluttering 
29 


446  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MADONNA. 

cherubim,  very  much  like  Cupids,  is  an  example 
©f  all  that  is  most  false  and  objectionable  In  feeling 
and  treatment.     (Florence,  Pitti  Pal.) 

The  popularity  of  this  scene  in  the  Bologna 
school  of  art  arose,  I  think,  from  its  being  adopted 
as  one  of  the  subjects  from  the  Rosary,  the  first  of 
"  the  five  Glorious  Mysteries ; "  therefore  espe- 
cially afiected  by  the  Dominicans,  the  great  pa- 
trons of  the  Caracci  at  that  time. 


The  Ascension,  though  one  of  the  "  Glorious 
Mysteries,"  was  also  accounted  as  the  seventh  and 
last  of  the  sorrows  of  the  Virgin,  for  she  was  then 
left  alone  on  earth.  All  the  old  legends  represent 
her  as  present  on  this  occasion,  and  saying,  as  she 
followed  with  uplifted  eyes  the  soaring  figure  of 
Christ,  "  My  Son,  remember  me  when  thou  comest 
10  thy  kingdom !  Leave  me  not  long  after  thee, 
my  Son  ! "  In  Giotto's  composition  in  the  chapel 
of  the  Arena,  at  Padua,  she  is  by  far  the  most 
prominent  figure.  In  almost  all  the  late  pictures 
of  the  Ascension,  she  is  introduced  with  the  other 
Marys,  kneeling  on  one  side,  or  placed  in  the  cen- 
tre among  the  apostles. 


The  Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  « 
Btrictly  scriptural  subject.  I  have  heard  it  said 
that  the  introduction  of  Mary  is  not  authorized  b^ 
Jie  scripture  narrative.     I  must  observe,  however 


THE    DESCENT   OF    THE   HOLY   GHOST.      44^ 

that,  without  any  wringing  of  the  text  for  an  espe- 
cial  purpose,  the  passage  might  be  so  interpreted 
In  the  first  chapter  of  the  Acts  (ver.  14),  aftef 
enumerating  the  apostles  by  name,  it  is  added, 
**  These  all  continued  with  one  accord  in  prayer 
and  supplication,  with  the  women  and  Mary  the 
mother  of  Jesus,  and  with  his  brethren."  An/1  in 
the  commencement  of  the  second  chapter  the  nar- 
rative thus  proceeds  :  "  And  when  the  day  of  Pen- 
tecost was  fully  come,  they  were  all  with  one 
accord  in  one  place."  The  word  all  is,  in  the 
Concordance,  referred  to  the  previous  text  (ver. 
14),  as  including  Mary  and  the  women :  thus  they 
who  were  constant  in  their  love  were  not  refused  a 
participation  in  the  gifts  of  the  Spirit.  Mary,  in 
her  character  of  the  divine  Mother  of  Wisdom,  or 
even  Wisdom  herself,*  did  not,  perhaps,  need  any 
accession  of  intellectual  light ;  but  we  must  remem- 
ber that  the  Holy  Spirit  was  the  Comforter,  a3 
well  as  the  Giver  of  wisdom;  therefore,  equally 
needed  by  those,  whether  men  or  women,  who 
were  all  equally  called  upon  to  carry  out  the  min- 
istry of  Christ  in  love  and  service,  in  doing  and  in 
Buffering. 

In  the  account  of  the  apostles  I  have  already 
described  at  length  the  various  treatment  and  most 
celebrated  examples  of  this  subject,  and  shall  only 
make  one  or  two  observations  with  especial  refer- 
ence to  the  figure  of  the  Virgin.     It  was  in  accord- 

*  Th3  sublime  eulogium  of  Wisdom  (Prov.  Till.  22),  is,  Sn  tbf 
ftonian  Catholic  Church,  applied  t*)  the  Vincia  Mary. 


i48  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MADONNA. 

ance  with  the  feelings  and  convictions  prevalent  m 
the  fifteenth  century,  that  if  Mary  were  admitted 
to  be  present,  she  would  take  the  principal  place, 
as  Queen  and  Mother  of  the  Apostles  {Regina  el 
Mater  Apostolorurn).  She  is,  therefore,  usually 
placed  either  in  front,  or  in  the  centre  on  a  raised 
Beat  or  dais;  and  often  holding  a  book  (as  the 
Mater  Sapientice) ;  and  she  receives  the  divine 
affusion  either  with  veiled  lids  and  meek  rejoicing , 
or  with  uplifted  eyes,  as  one  inspired,  she  pours 
forth  the  hymn,  Veni,  Sancte  Spiritus. 

I  agree  with  the  critics  that,  as  the  Spirit  de- 
scended in  form  of  cloven  tongues  of  fire,  the  em- 
blem of  the  Dove,  almost  always  introduced,  is 
here  superfluous,  and,  indeed,  out  of  place. 


I  must  mention  here  another  subject  altogether 
apocrj'phal,  and  confined  to  the  late  Spanish  and 
Italian  schools :  The  Virgin  receives  the  sac- 
ramental wafer  from  the  hand  of  St.  John  the 
Evangelist.  This  is  frequently  misunderstood,  and 
styled  the  Communion  of  Mary  Magdalene.  But 
the  long  hair  and  uncovered  head  of  the  Magda- 
lene, and  the  episcopal  robe  of  St.  Maximin,  are 
in  general  distinguishable  from  the  veiled  matronly 
head  of  the  Virgin  Mother,  and  the  deacon's  vest 
of  St.  John.  There  is  also  a  legend  that  Mary 
received  baptism  from  St.  Peter ;  but  this  is  a  sub* 
lect  I  have  never  met  with  in  art,  ancient  or  mod 
\rn.     It  may  possibly  exist 


THE    LAST    YEARS    OF    THE    VIRGllS.         44S 

I  am  not  acquainted  with  any  reiiresentationa 
.aken  from  the  sojourn  on  earth  of  the  Blessed  Vir* 
|in  from  this  time  to  the  period  of  her  death,  thd 
date  of  which  is  uncertain.  It  is,  however,  generally 
supposed  to  have  taken  place  in  the  forty-eighth 
year  of  our  era,  and  about  eleven  years  after  the 
Crucifixion,  therefore  in  her  sixtieth  year.  There 
is  no  distinct  record,  either  historical  or  legendary, 
as  to  the  manner  in  which  she  passed  these  years. 
There  are,  indeed,  floating  traditions  alluded  to  by 
the  early  theological  writers,  that  when  the  first 
persecution  broke  out  at  Jerusalem,  Mary  accom- 
panied St.  John  the  Evangelist  to  Ephesus,  and 
was  attended  thither  by  the  faithful  and  affection- 
ate Mary  Magdalene.  Also  that  she  dwelt  for  some 
time  on  Mount  Carmel,  in  an  oratory  erected  there 
by  the  prophet  Elijah,  and  hence  became  the  pa- 
troness of  the  Carmelites,  under  the  title  of  Our 
Lady  of  Mount  Carmel  {La  Madonna  del  Carmine, 
or  del  Carmelo).  If  there  exist  any  creations  of  the 
artists  founded  on  these  obscure  traditions,  which  is 
indeed  most  probable,  particularly  in  the  edifices 
of  the  Carmelites  in  Spain,  I  have  not  met  with 
them. 

It  is  related  that  before  the  apostles  separated  to 
obey  the  command  of  their  divine  Master,  and 
J.  reach  the  gospel  to  all  the  nations  of  the  earth, 
they  took  a  solemn  leave  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and 
•«ceived  her  blessing.  This  suoject  has  been  rep- 
resented, though  not  hy  any  distinguished  artist.     I 


450  LEGENDS    OF   THE   MADONNA. 

remember  such  a  picture,  apparently  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  in  the  Church  of  S.  Maria-in-Cap- 
itoho  at  Cologne,  and  another,  by  Bissoni,  in  the 
San  Giustina  at  Padua.  (Sacred  and  Legendary 
Art.) 


THE     DEATH     AND    ASSUMPTION     OF     THB 
VIRGIN. 

Lot.  Donnitio,   Pausatio,  Transitus,  Assumptio,   B   Virginis. 
Itai.  n  Transito  di  Maria.     H  Sonno  della  Beata  Vergine 
L'  Assuuzione.     i?V.   La  Mort  de  la  Vierge.     L'Assomption  . 
Ger.   Das  Absterben  der  Maria.    Maria  Himmelfikhrt.    An 
ffust,  13, 15. 

We  approach  the  closing  scenes. 

Of  all  the  representations  consecrated  to  the  glory 
of  the  Virgin,  none  have  been  more  popular,  more 
multiplied  through  every  form  of  art,  and  more  ad- 
mirably treated,  than  her  death  and  apotheosis.  The 
latter  in  particular,  under  the  title  of  "  the  Assump- 
tion," became  the  visible  expression  of  a  dogma  of 
faith  then  universally  received —  namely,  the  exalta- 
tion and  deification  of  the  Virgin  in  the  body  as  well 
as  in  the  spirit.  As  such  it  meets  us  at  every  turn 
in  the  edifices  dedicated  to  her )  in  painting  over 
the  altar,  in  sculpture  over  the  portal,  or  gleaming 
npon  us  in  light  from  the  shining  many-coloured 
windows.  Sometimes  the  two  subjects  are  com- 
bined, and  the  death-scene  (11  transito  di  Maria) 
figured  below,  is,  in  fact,  only  the  transition  to  the 
tleseedness   and   exaltation   figured  above.      But 


THE    DEATH    OF    THE   MADONNA.  45i 

whether  separate  or  combined,  the  two  scenes,  in 
themselves  most  beautiful  and  touching,  —  the  ex- 
tremes of  the  mournful  and  the  majestic,  the  dra- 
tnatic  and  the  ideal,  —  offered  to  the  mediaBval  ar- 
tists such  a  breadth  of  space  for  the  exhibition  of 
foeling  and  fancy  as  no  other  subject  afforded. 
Consequently,  among  the  examples  handed  down 
to  us,  are  to  be  found  some  of  the  most  curious  and 
important  relics  of  the  early  schools,  while  others 
rank  among  the  grandest  productions  of  the  best 
ages  of  art. 

For  the  proper  understanding  of  these,  it  is  ne- 
cessary to  give  the  old  apocryphal  legend  at  some 
length ;  for,  although  the  very  curious  and  extrava- 
gant details  of  this  legend  were  not  authorized  by 
the  Church  as  matters  of  fact  or  faith,  it  is  clear 
that  the  artists  were  permitted  thence  to  derive 
their  materials  and  their  imagery.  In  what  man- 
ner they  availed  themselves  of  this  permission,  and 
how  far  the  wildly  poetical  circumstances  witli 
which  the  old  tradition  was  gradually  invested, 
were  allowed  to  enter  into  the  forms  of  art,  we 
ihall  afterwards  consider. 


ran     LEGEND    OF    THE     DEATH     AND     ASSUMPTION 
OF  THE  MOST  GLORIOUS  VIRGIN  MARY. 

Mary  dwelt  in  the  house  of  John  upon  Mount  Sion 
fookingfor  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise  of  deliverance, 
and  she  spent  her  days  in  visiting  those  places  which  had 
teen  hallowed  by  the  baptism^  iie  sufferings,  the  burial 


452  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MADONNA. 

and  resurrection  of  her  divine  Son,  but  more  particularly 
the  tomb  wherein  he  was  laid.  And  she  did  not  this  ai 
oceking  the  living  among  the  dead,  but  for  consolation  and 
for  remembrance. 

And  on  a  certain  day,  the  heart  of  the  Virgin,  being 
filled  with  an  inexpressible  longing  to  behold  her  Son 
melted  away  within  her,  and  she  wept  abundantly.  And, 
lo !  an  angel  appeared  before  her  clothed  in  light  as  with  a 
garment.  And  he  saluted  her,  and  said,  "  Hail,  0  Mary  I 
blessed  by  him  who  hath  given  salvation  to  Israel !  I  bring 
thee  here  a  branch  of  palm  gathered  in  Paradise ;  com- 
mand that  it  be  carried  before  thy  bier  in  the  day  of  thy 
death ;  for  in  three  days  thy  soul  shall  leave  thy  body,  and 
thou  shalt  enter  into  Paradise,  where  thy  Son  awaits  thy 
coming."  Mary,  answering,  said, "  Tf  I  have  found  grace 
in  thy  eyes,  tell  me  first  what  is  thy  name ;  and  grant  that 
the  apostles  my  brethren  may  be  reunited  to  me  before  1 
die,  that  in  their  presence  I  may  give  up  my  soul  to  God. 
Also,  I  pray  thee,  that  my  soul,  when  delivered  from  my 
body,  may  not  be  affrighted  by  any  spirit  of  darkness,  nor 
any  evil  angel  be  allowed  to  have  any  power  over  me." 
And  the  angel  said,  "Why  dost  thou  ask  my  name? 
My  name  is  the  Great  and  the  "Wonderful.  And  now 
doubt  not  that  all  the  apostles  shall  be  reunited  to  thee  this 
day ;  for  he  who  in  former  times  transported  the  prophet 
Habakkuk  from  Judea  to  Jerusalem  by  the  hair  of  his 
head,  can  as  easily  bring  hither  the  apostles.  And  fear 
thou  not  the  evil  spirit,  for  hast  thou  not  bruised  his  head 
and  destroyed  his  kingdom  ?  "  And  having  said  these 
words,  the  angel  departed  into  heaven;  and  the  palM 
branch  which  he  had  left  behind  him  shed  light  from 
every  leaf,  and  sparkled  as  the  stars  of  the  morning 
Then  Mary  lighted  the  lamps  and  prepared  her  bed,  and 
waited  until  the  hour  was  come.  And  in  the  same  in- 
Btant  John,  who  was  preaching  at  Ephesus,  and  Peter 
irho  was  preaching  at  Antioch,  and  all  the  other  aposUei 
who  were  dispersed  in  different  parts  of  the  world,  wei\f 


THE  DEATH  OF  THE  MADONNA.     451 

!mddenly  caught  up  as  by  a  miraculous  power,  and  founo 
Aemselvcs  before  the  door  of  the  habitation  of  Mary 
When  Mary  saw  them  all  assembled  round  her,  shi 
blessed  and  thanked  the  Lord,  and  she  placed  in  the 
bands  of  St.  John  the  shining  palm,  and  desired  that  he 
should  bear  it  before  her  at  the  time  of  her  burial.  Then 
Mary,  kneeling  down,  made  her  prayer  to  the  Lord  hef 
Son,  and  the  others  prayed  with  her ;  then  she  laid  her- 
self down  in  her  bed  and  composed  herself  for  death. 
And  John  wept  bitterly.  And  about  the  third  hour  of  the 
night,  as  Peter  stood  at  the  head  of  the  bed  and  John  at 
the  foot,  and  the  other  apostles  around,  a  mighty  sound 
filled  the  house,  and  a  delicious  perfmne  filled  the  cham- 
oer.  And  Jesus  himself  appeared  accompanied  by  an  in- 
numerable company  of  angels,  patriarchs,  and  prophets ; 
all  these  surrounded  the  bed  of  the  Virgin,  singing  hymns 
of  joy.  And  Jesus  said  to  his  Mother,  "  Arise,  my  beloved, 
mine  elect !  come  with  me  from  Lebanon,  my  espoused ! 
receive  the  crown  that  is  destined  for  thee !  "  And  Mary, 
answering,  said,  "  My  heart  is  ready ;  for  it  was  written 
of  me  that  I  should  do  thy  will!  "  Then  all  the  angels 
and  blessed  spirits  who  accompanied  Jesus  began  to  sing 
and  rejoice.  And  the  soul  of  Mary  left  her  body,  and  was 
received  into  the  arms  of  her  Son ;  and  together  they  as- 
cended into  heaven.*  And  the  apostles  looked  up,  say- 
ing, "  Oh  most  prudent  Virgin,  remember  us  when  thou 
comest  to  glory!  "  and  the  angels,  who  received  her  into 
heaven,  sung  these  words,  "  Who  is  this  that  cometh  up 
from  the  wilderness  leaning  upon  her  Beloved?  she  is 
feirer  than  all  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem." 

*  In  the  later  French  legend,  it  is  the  angel  Michael  wno 
^kes  charge  of  the  departing  soul.  "  Ecce  Dominus  venit  curr 
"ntdtitudine  angelorum ;  et  Jesus  Christ  Tint  en  grande  com- 
(laignie  d'anges  ;  entre  lesquels  estoit  Sainct  Michel,  et  quand 
La  Vierge  Marie  le  veit  elle  dit,  '  Benoist  sotf  Tesus  Christ  car  i] 
fee  m'a  pas  oubliee.'  Quand  e'le  eut  ce  dit  elle  rendit  Pesprit. 
•quel  Sainct  Michel  print." 


154  LEGENDS   OF    THE    MADONNA. 

But  the  body  of  Mary  remained  upon  the  earth ;  and 
three  among  the  virgins  prepared  to  wash  and  clothe  it  in 
a  shroud ;  but  such  a  glory  of  light  surrounded  her  forrn^ 
that  though  they  touched  it  they  could  not  see  it,  and  no 
liuman  eye  beheld  those  chaste  and  sacred  limbs  un- 
clothed. Then  the  apostles  took  her  up  reverently  and 
placed  her  upon  a  bier,  and  John,  carrying  the  celestial 
palm,  went  before.  Peter  sung  the  114th  Psalm,  *'/«  exitu 
Israel  de  Ugypto,  domus  Jacob  de  populo  harharo^^''  and  ths 
angels  followed  after,  also  singing.  The  wicked  Jews, 
hearing  these  melodious  voices,  ran  together;  and  the 
high-priest,  being  seized  with  fury,  laid  his  hands  upon 
the  bier  intending  to  overturn  it  on  the  earth ;  but  both 
his  arms  were  suddenly  dried  up,  so  that  he  could  not 
move  them,  and  he  was  overcome  with  fear;  and  he 
prayed  to  St.  Peter  for  help,  and  Peter  said,  "  Have  faith 
in  Jesus  Christ,  and  his  Mother,  and  thou  shalt  be  heal- 
ed:" and  it  was  so.  Then  they  went  on  and  laid  the 
Virghi  in  a  tomb  in  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat.* 

And  on  the  third  day,  Jesus  said  to  the  angels,  "  What 
honour  shall  I  confer  on  her  who  was  my  mother  on  earth, 
and  brought  me  forth?"  And  they  answered,  "Lord, 
suffer  not  that  body  which  was  thy  temple  and  thy  dwell- 
ing to  see  corruption ;  but  place  her  beside  thee  on  thy 
throne  in  heaven."  And  Jesus  consented;  and  the  Arch- 
angel Michael  brought  unto  the  Lord  the  glorious  soul  of 
our  Lady.  And  the  Lord  said,  "  Rise  up,  my  dove,  my 
undefiled,  for  thou  shalt  not  remain  in  the  darkness  of  the 
grave,  nor  shalt  thou  see  corruption ;"  and  immediately  the 
Boul  of  Mary  rejoined  her  body,  and  she  arose  up  glorious 
from  the  tomb,  and  ascended  into  heaven  surrounded  and 
welcomed  by  troops  of  angels,  blowing  their  silver  trum- 

*  Or  (Jethsemane.  I  must  observe  here,  that  in  the  ^nuina 
oriental  legend,  it  is  Michael  the  Archangel  who  hews  off  th« 
bands  of  "he  audacious  Jew,  which  were  afterwards,  at  the  is 
toro«Mion  >f  St.  Peter,  reunited  to  his  bodj. 


DEATH  AND  ASSUMPTION  OF  THE  VIRGIN.   455 

pets,  touchLng  their  golden  lutes,  singing,  and  rejoicing  as 
Ihey  sung,  "  Who  is  she  that  riseth  as  the  morning,  fair  as 
the  moon,  clear  as  the  sun,  and  terrible  as  an  army  with 
banners  ?  "  (Cant.  vi.  10.) 

But  one  among  the  apostles  was  absent ;  and  when  h^  ar- 
.rived  soon  after,  he  would  not  believe  in  the  resurrection  of 
the  Virgin ;  and  this  apostle  was  the  same  Thomas,  who 
had  formerly  been  slow  to  believe  in  the  resurrection  of 
the  Lord;  and  he  desired  that  the  tomb  should  be  opened 
before  him ;  and  when  it  was  opened  it  was  found  to  be 
full  of  lilies  and  roses.  Then  Thomas,  looking  up  to 
heaven,  beheld  the  Virgin  bodily,  in  a  glory  of  light, 
slowly  mounting  towards  the  heaven;  and  she,  for  the 
assurance  of  his  faith,  flung  down  to  him  her  girdle,  the 
same  which  is  to  this  day  preserved  in  the  cathedral 
of  Prato.  And  there  were  present  at  the  death  of  the 
Virgin  Mary,  besides  the  twelve  apostles,  Dionysius  the 
Areopagite,  Timotheus,  and  Hierotheus;  and  of  the 
women,  Mary  Salome,  Mary  Cleophas,^  and  a  faithftil 
handmaid  whose  name  was  Savia. 

This  legend  of  the  Death  and  Assumption  of  the 
Virgin  has  afforded  to  the  artists  seven  distinct 
scenes. 

1.  The  Angel,  bearing  the  palm,  announces  to 
Mary  her  approaching  death.  The  announcing 
angel  is  usually  supposed  to  be  Gabriel,  but  it  is 
properly  Michael,  the  "  angel  of  death."  2.  She 
takes  leave  of  the  Apostles.  3.  Her  Death.  4. 
She  is  borne  to  the  Sepulchre.  5.  Her  Entoml> 
ment.  6.  Her  Assumpti-^n,  wnere  she  rises  tri- 
umphant  and   glorious,  "  like  unto  the  morning" 

*  According  to  the  French  legend  Mary  Magdalene  and  Im 
§Bt0t  Martha  were  also  present. 


i56  LEGENDS   OF   THE   MADONNA, 

("  quasi  aurora  consurgens  ").  7.  Her  Coronadoa 
In  heaven^  where  she  takes  her  place  beside  her 
Sk)n. 

In  early  art,  particularly  in  the  Gothic  sculpture, 
two  or  more  of  these  subjects  are  generally  grouped 
together.  Sometimes  we  have  the  death-scene  and 
the  entombment  on  a  line  below,  and,  above  Ihese, 
the  coronation  or  the  assumption,  as  over  the  porta) 
of  Notre  Dame  at  Paris,  and  in  many  other  in- 
stances ;  or  we  have  first  her  death,  above  this,  hei 
assumption,  and,  above  all,  her  coronation ;  as  ove^ 
the  portal  at  Amiens  and  elsewhere. 


I  shall  now  take  these  subjects  in  tlwir  order. 

The  Angel  announcing  to  Mary  he^ 
APPROACHING  Death  has  been  rarely  treated- 
In  general,  Mary  is  seated  or  standing,  and  the 
angel  kneels  before  her,  bearing  the  starry  palm 
brought  from  Paradise.  In  the  frescoes  at  Orvieto, 
and  in  the  bas-relief  of  Orcagna,*  the  angel  comes 
flying  downwards  with  the  palm.  In  a  predella  by 
Fra  Filippo  Lippi,  the  angel  kneels,  reverently 
presenting  a  taper,  which  the  Virgin  receives  with 
majestic  grace  ;  St.  Peter  stands  behind.  It  was 
the  custom  to  place  a  taper  in  the  hand  of  a  dying 
person ;  and  as  the  palm  is  also  given  sometimes  to 
the  angel  of  the  incarnation,  while  the  taper  can 
kave  but  one  meaning,  the  significance  of  the  sceni 

*  Om  tlM  beautiful  shrine  in  Or-San-Michele,  at  Florenet. 


THE    DEATH   OF    THE    VIRGIN.  45f 

IB  here  lixed  beyond  the  possibility  of  mistake, 
though  there  is  a  departure  from  the  literal  details 
of  the  old  legend.  There  is  in  the  Munich  Gallery 
a  curious  German  example  of  this  subject  by  Ham 
Schauflfelein. 


The  Death  of  the  Virgin  is  styled  in  By- 
zantine and  old  Italian  art  the  Sleep  of  the  Virgin, 
11  Sonno  delta  Madonna  ;  for  it  was  an  old  super- 
stition, subsequently  rejected  as  heretical,  that  she 
did  not  really  die  after  the  manner  of  common  mor- 
tals, only  fell  asleep  till  her  resurrection.  There- 
fore, perhaps,  it  is,  that  in  the  early  pictures  we 
have  before  us,  not  so  much  a  scene  or  action,  as  a 
sort  of  mysterious  rite  ;  it  is  not  the  Virgin  dead  or 
dying  in  her  bed ;  she  only  slumbers  in  prepara- 
tion for  her  entombment;  while  in  the  later  pic- 
tures, we  have  a  death-bed  scene  with  all  the  usual 
dramatic  and  pathetic  accessories. 

In  one  sense  or  the  other,  the  theme  has  been  con- 
stantly treated,  from  the  earliest  ages  of  the  revival 
of  art  down  to  the  seventeenth  century. 

In  the  most  ancient  examples  which  are  derived 
from  the  Greek  school,  it  is  always  represented 
with  a  mystical  and  solemn  simplicity,  adhering 
closely  to  the  old  legend,  and  to  the  formula  laid 
down  in  the  Greek  Manual. 

There  is  such  a  picture  in  the  Wallerstein  Col- 
lection at  Kensington.  Palace.  The  couch  or  bier 
if  in  tlie  centre  of  the  picture,  and  Mary  lief 


158      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

npon  it  wrapped  in  a  veil  and  mantle  with  closed 
eyes  and  hands  crossed  over  her  bosom.  The 
twelve  apostles  stand  round  in  attitudes  of  grief 
angels  attend  bearing  tapers.  Behind  the  extend- 
ed form  of  the  Virgin  is  the  figure  of  Christ ;  a  glo- 
rious red  seraph  with  expanded  wings  hovers  ahc^*\ 
his  head.  He  holds  in  his  arms  the  soul  of  the  Vip» 
gin  in  likeness  of  a  new-born  child.  On  each  side 
stand  St.  Dionysius  the  Areopagite,  and  St.  Timo- 
thy, Bishop  of  Ephesus,  in  episcopal  robes.  In 
front,  the  archangel  Michael  bends  forward  to 
strike  off  the  hands  of  the  high-priest  Adonijah, 
who  had  attempted  to  profane  the  bier.  (This 
last  circumstance  is  rarely  expressed,  except  in  the 
Byzantine  pictures ;  for  in  the  Italian  legend,  the 
hands  of  the  intruder  wither  and  adhere  to  the  bed 
or  shrine.)  In  the  picture  just  described,  all  is  at 
once  simple,  and  formal,  and  solemn,  and  supernat- 
ural ;  it  is  a  very  perfect  example  in  its  way  of  the 
genuine  Byzantine  treatment.  There  is  a  similar 
picture  in  the  Christian  museum  of  the  Vatican. 

Another  (the  date  about  the  first  half  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  as  I  think)  is  curious  from  the 
introduction  of  the  women.*  The  Virgin  lies  on 
an  embroidered  sheet  held  reverently  by  angels 
at  the  feet  and  at  the  head  other  angels  bear  ta- 
pers; Christ  receives  the  departing  soul,  which 
stretches  out  its  arms;  St.  John  kneels  in  front 
%nd  St  Peter  reads  the  service  ;  the  other  apostlei 
are  behind  him,  and  there  are  three  women.    Thf 

•  At  present  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Bromley,  of  Wootten. 


THE   DEATH   CF   THE   VIRGIX.  45^ 

execution  of  this  curious  picture  is  extremely  rude, 
but  tlie  heads  very  fine.  Cimabue  painted  th* 
Death  of  the  Virgin  at  Assisi.  There  is  a  beauti- 
ful example  by  Giotto,  where  two  lovely  ange^« 
stand  at  the  head  and  two  at  the  feet,  sustaining 
the  pall  on  which  she  lies ;  another  most  exquisite 
by  Angelico  in  the  Florence  Gallery ;  another  most 
beautiful  and  pathetic  by  Taddeo  Bartoli  in  the  Pa- 
lazzo Publico  at  Siena. 

The  custom  of  representing  Christ  as  standing  by 
the  couch  or  tomb  of  his  mother,  in  the  act  of  re- 
ceiving her  soul,  continued  down  to  the  fifteenth 
century,  at  least  with  slight  deviations  from  the 
original  conception.  The  later  treatment  is  quite 
difierent.  The  solemn  mysterious  sleep,  the  transi- 
tion from  one  life  to  another,  became  a  familiar 
death-bed  scene  with  the  usual  moving  accompani- 
ments. But  even  while  avoiding  the  supernatural 
incidents,  the  Italians  gave  to  the  representation 
much  ideal  elegance  ;  for  instance,  in  the  beautiful 
fresco  by  Ghirlandajo.  (Florence,  S.  Maria-No- 
vella.) 

In  the  old  German  school  we  have  that  homely 
matter-of-fact  feeling,  and  dramatic  expression,  and 
defiance  of  all  chronological  propriety,  which  be- 
longed to  the  time  and  school.  The  composition 
by  Albert  Durer,  in  his  series  Df  the  Life  of  the 
Virgin,  has  great  beautv  and  simplicity  of  expres- 
sion, and  in  the  arrangement  a  degree  of  grandeur, 
Knd  repose  which  has  caused  it  to  be  often  copied 


460      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

and  repixwiuced  as  a  picture,  though  the  original 
form  is  merely  that  of  a  wood-cut.*  In  the  cen- 
tte  is  a  bedstead  with  a  canopy,  on  which  Mary 
lies  fronting  the  spectator,  her  eyes  half  closed. 
On  the  left  of  the  bed  stands  St.  Peter,  habited  as 
a  bishop ;  he  places  a  taper  in  her  dying  hand ; 
another  apostle  holds  the  asperge  with  which  to 
sprinkle  her  with  holy  water;  another  reads  the 
service.  In  the  foreground  is  a  priest  bearing  a 
cross,  and  another  with  incense  ;  and  on  the  right, 
the  other  apostles  in  attitudes  of  devotion  and  grie£ 
Another  picture  by  Albert  Durer,  once  in  the 
Fries  Gallery,  at  Vienna,  unites,  in  a  most  remark- 
able manner,  all  the  legendary  and  supernatural 
incidents  with  the  most  intense  and  homely  reality. 
It  appears  to  have  been  painted  for  the  Emperor 
Maximilian,  as  a  tribute  to  the  memory  of  his  first 
wife,  the  interesting  Maria  of  Burgundy.  The 
disposition  of  the  bed  is  the  same  as  in  the  wood-cut, 
the  foot  towards  the  spectator.  The  face  of  the 
dying  Virgin  is  that  of  the  young  duchess.  On 
the  right,  her  son,  afterwards  Philip  of  Spain,  and 
father  of  Charles  V.,  stands  as  the  young  St.  John, 
and  presents  the  taper  ;  the  other  apostles  are  seen 
around,  most  of  them  praying ;  St.  Peter,  habited 
as  bishop,  reads  from  an  open  book  (this  is  the  por- 
trait of  George  k  Zlatkonia,  bishop  of  Vienna,  the 
friend  and  counsellor  of  Maximilian) ;  behind  him, 
as   one  of  the  apostles,  Maximilian  himself,  witJr 

*  There  is  one  such  copy  in  the  Sutherland  Gallery ;  and  »n 
Hhtr  in  the  Munich  GaUery,  Cabinet  yiii.  161. 


THE   DEATH   OF    THE   VIRGIN.  46\ 

^ead  bowed  down,  as  in  sorrow.  Three  ecclesias- 
tics are  seen  entering  by  an  open  door,  bearing 
the  cross,  the  censer,  and  the  holy  water.  Over 
the  bed  is  seen  the  figure  of  Christ ;  in  his  arms, 
the  soul  of  the  Virgin,  in  likeness  of  an  infant  with 
clasped  hands ;  and  above  all,  in  an  open  glory 
and  like  a  vision,  her  reception  and  coronation 
in  heaven.  Upon  a  scroll  over  her  head,  are  the 
words,  "  Surge  propera^  arnica  mea  ;  veni  de  Li- 
lano,  veni  coronaberis."  (Cant.  iv.  8.)  Three 
among  the  hovering  angels  bear  scrolls,  on  one 
of  which  is  inscribed  the  text  from  the  Canticles, 
"  Quce  est  ista  quce  progreditur  quasi  aurora  consur^ 
gens^pulcTira  ut  luna^  electa  ut  sol,  terribilis  ut  castrO' 
rum  acies  ordinata  f  **  (Cant.  vi.  10 ; )  on  another, 
"  Quce  est  ista  quce  ascendit  de  deserto  deliciis  afflur 
ens  super  dilectum  suum  f  "  (Cant.  viii.  5  ; )  and  on 
the  third,  "  Quce  est  ista  quce  ascendit  super  dilec- 
tum suum  ut  virgula  fumi  ?  "  (Cant.  iii.  6.)  This 
picture  bears  the  date  1518.  If  it  be  true,  as  is, 
indeed,  most  apparent,  that  it  was  painted  by  order 
of  Maximilian  nearly  forty  years  after  the  loss  ot 
the  young  wife  he  so  tenderly  loved,  and  only  one 
year  before  his  own  death,  there  is  something  very 
touching  in  it  as  a  memorial.  The  ingenious  and 
tender  compliment  implied  by  making  Mary  of 
Burgundy  the  real  object  of  those  mystic  texts  con- 
•ecrated  to  the  glory  of  the  Mater  Dei,  verges, 
perhaps,  on  the  profane ;  but  it  was  not  so  in- 
tended; it  wai  merely  that  combination  of  the 
pious,  and  the  poetical,  and  the  sentimental,  whidi 
30 


162  LEGENDS   OP   THE   MADONNA 

was  one  of  the  characteristics  of  the  time,  In  litera- 
ture, as  well  as  in  art.  (Heller's  Albrecht  Diirer 
p.  261.) 

The  picture  by  Jan  Schoreel,  one  of  the  great 
ornaments  of  the  Boisseree  Gallery,*  is  remarkable 
for  its  intense  reality  and  splendour  of  colour. 
The  heads  are  full  of  character ;  that  of  the  Virgin 
in  particular,  who  seems,  with  half-closed  eyes,  in 
act  to  breathe  away  her  soul  in  rapture.  The  al- 
tar near  the  bed,  having  on  it  figures  of  Moses  and 
Aaron,  is,  however,  a  serious  fault  and  incongruity 
In  this  fine  painting. 

I  must  observe  that  Mary  is  not  always  dead  or 
dying ;  she  is  sometimes  preparing  for  death,  in  the 
act  of  prayer  at  the  foot  of  her  couch,  with  the 
apostles  standing  round,  as  in  a  very  fine  picture 
by  Martin  Schafiher,  where  she  kneels  with  a  love- 
ly expression,  sustained  in  the  arms  of  St.  John, 
while  St.  Peter  holds  the  gospel  open  before  her. 
(Munich  Gal.)  Sometimes  she  is  sitting  up  in  her 
bed,  and  reading  from  the  Book  of  the  Scripture, 
which  is  always  held  by  St.  Peter. 

In  a  picture  by  Cola  della  Matrice,  the  Death  of 
ihe  Vir^n  is  treated  at  once  in  a  mystical  and  dra- 
matic style.  Enveloped  in  a  dark  blue  mantle 
spangled  with  golden  stars,  she  lies  extended  on  a 
oouch;  St  Peter,  in  a  splendid  scarlet  cope  as 
bishop,  reads  the  service;  St.  John,  holding  the 
palm,  weeps  bitterly.    In  front,  and  kneeling  be- 

•  Mnnieh  (70).    The  admirable  ViUiograph  by  StrixDer  If  wet 


THE   DEATH   OF   THE   VIRGIN.  468 

for  the  coich  or  bier,  appear  the  three  great  Do- 
minican saints  as  witnesses  of  the  religious  mystery  •, 
in  the  centre,  St.  Dominick ;  on  the  left,  St.  Cathe- 
rine of  Siena ;  and  on  the  right,  St.  Thomas  Aqui- 
nas. In  a  compartment  above  is  the  Assumption. 
(Rome,  Capitol.) 

Among  the  later  Italian  examples,  where  the  old 
legendary  accessories  are  generally  omitted,  there 
are  some  of  peculiar  elegance.  One  by  Ludovico 
Caracci,  another  by  Domenichino,  and  a  third  by 
Carlo  Maratti,  are  treated,  if  not  with  much  of 
poetry  or  religious  sentiment,  yet  with  great  dig- 
nity and  pathos. 

I  must  mention  one  more,  because  of  its  history 
and  celebrity :  Caravaggio,  of  whom  it  was  said 
that  he  always  painted  like  a  ruffian,  because  he 
was  a  ruffian,  was  also  a  genius  in  his  way,  and  for 
a  few  months  he  became  the  fashion  at  Rome,  and 
was  even  patronized  by  some  of  the  higher  ecclesi- 
astics. He  painted  for  the  church  of  la  Scala  in 
Trastevere  a  picture  of  the  Death  of  the  Virgin, 
wonderful  for  the  intense  natural  expression,  and 
m  the  same  degree  grotesque  from  its  impropriety. 
Mary,  instead  of  being  decently  veiled,  lies  extend- 
ed with  long  scattered  hair ;  the  strongly  marked 
features  and  large  proportions  of  the  figure  are 
those  of  a  woman  of  the  Trastevere.*     The  apos- 

*  The  fii/te  has  a  swollen  look,  and  it  was  said  that  hia  model 
had  been  a  common  woman  whose  features  were  swelled  by  i» 
loxleation.     (Louvre,  82.) 


164  LEGENDS    OF    THE   MADOimA. 

Ues  stand  around ;  one  or  two  of  them  —  I  must  use 
the  word  —  blubber  aloud:  Peter  thrusts  his  fista 
into  his  eyes  to  keep  back  the  tears ;  a  woman 
seated  in  front  cries  and  sobs ;  nothing  can  be  more 
real,  nor  more  utterly  vulgar.  The  ecclesiastics 
for  whom  the  picture  was  executed  were  so  scan- 
dalized, that  they  refused  to  hang  it  up  in  their 
church.  It  was  purchased  by  the  Duke  of  Man- 
tua, and,  with  the  rest  of  the  Mantuan  Gallery, 
came  afterwards  into  the  possession  of  our  unfortu- 
nate Charles  I.  On  the  dispersion  of  his  pictures, 
it  found  its  way  into  the  Louvre,  where  it  now  is. 
It  has  been  often  engraved. 


The  Apo8tle8  carry  the  body  of  the 
Virgin  to  the  tomb.  This  is  a  very  uncom- 
mon subject.  There  is  a  most  beautiful  example 
by  Taddeo  Bartoli  (Siena,  Pal.  Publico),  full  of 
profound  religious  feeling.  There  is  a  small  en- 
graving by  Bonasoni,  in  a  series  of  the  Life  of  the 
Virgin,  apparently  after  Parmigiano,  in  which  the 
apostles  bear  her  on  their  shoulders  over  rocky 
ground,  and  appear  to  be  descending  into  the  Val- 
ley of  Jehoshaphat :  underneath  are  these  lines :  — 

**  Portan  gli  uomini  santi  in  su  le  spalle 
Al  Sepolcro  il  corpo  di  Maria 
Di  Josaphat  nella  famosa  valle." 

There  is  another  picture  of  this  subject  by  Lt> 
dovico  Caracci,  at  Parma. 


THE   ASSUMPTION.  468 

l!n%  Entombment.  In  the  early  pictures, 
Lhere  is  little  distinction  between  this  subject  and 
the  Death  of  the  Virgin.  If  the  figure  of  Christ 
itand  over  the  recumbent  form,  holding  in  his  arms 
the  emancipated  soul,  then  it  is  the  Transito  —  th** 
death  or  sleep ;  but  when  a  sarcophagus  is  in  the 
centre  of  the  picture,  and  the  body  lies  extended 
above  it  on  a  sort  of  sheet  or  pall  held  by  angels  or 
apostles,  if  may  be  determined  that  it  is  the  En- 
tombment of  the  Virgin  after  her  death.  In  a 
Bmall  and  very  beautiful  picture  by  Angelico,  we 
have  distinctly  this  representation.*  She  lies,  like 
one  asleep,  on  a  white  pall,  held  reverently  by  the 
mourners.  They  prepare  to  lay  her  in  a  marble 
sarcophagus.  St.  John,  bearing  the  starry  palm, 
appears  to  address  a  man  in  a  doctor's  cap  and 
gown,  evidently  intended  for  Dionysius  the  Areop- 
agite.  Above,  in  the  sky,  the  soul  of  the  Virgin, 
surrounded  by  most  graceful  angels,  is  received  in- 
to heaven.  This  group  is  distinguished  from  the 
group  below,  by  being  painted  in  a  dreamy  bluish 
tint,  like  solidified  light,  or  like  a  vision. 


The  Assumption.  The  old  painters  distinguish 
between  the  Assumption  of  the  soul  and  the  As- 
sumption of  the  body  of  the  Virgin.  In  the  first 
Instance,  at  the  moment  the  soul  is  separated  from 

♦  This  picture,  now  in  the  possession  of  W.  Fuller  Maitland, 
Esq.,  was  exhibited  in  the  British  Institution  in  the  summer  *4 
1862.     It  is  engraved  in  the  Etruria  Pittrice. 


166  LEGENDS   OF    THE   MADONNA. 

the  body,  Christ  receives  It  Into  his  keeping,  stand- 
ing in  person  either  beside  her  death-bed  or  above 
it.  But  in  the  Assumption  properly  so  called,  we 
have  the  moment  wherein  the  soul  of  the  Virgin 
IS  reunited  to  her  body,  which,  at  the  command  of 
Christ,  rises  up  from  the  tomb.  Of  all  the  themea 
of  sacred  art,  there  is  not  one  more  complete  and 
beautiful  than  this,  in  what  it  represents,  and  in 
what  It  suggests.  Earth  and  Its  sorrows,  death  ard 
the  grave,  are  left  below ;  and  the  pure  spirit  of  the 
Mother  again  clothed  in  its  unspotted  tabernacle, 
lurrounded  by  angelic  harmonies,  and  sustained 
by  wings  of  cherubim  and  seraphim,  soars  up- 
wards to  meet  her  Son,  and  to  be  reunited  to  him 
forever. 

We  must  consider  this  fine  subject  under  two  as- 
pects. 

The  first  is  purely  ideal  and  devotional;  it  is 
Bimply  the  expression  of  a  dogma  of  faith,  "  As- 
sumpta  est  Maria  Virgo  in  Coelum."  The  figure  of 
the  Virgin  is  seen  within  an  almond-shaped  aure- 
ole (the  mandorla),  not  unfrequently  crowned  as 
well  as  veiled,  her  hands  joined,  her  white  robe  fall- 
ing round  her  feet  (for  in  all  the  early  pictures  the 
dress  of  the  Virgin  is  white,  often  spangled  with 
stars),  and  thus  she  seems  to  cleave  the  air  up- 
wards, while  adoring  angels  surround  the  glory  of 
light  within  which  she  is  enshrined.  Such  are  the 
figures  which  are  placed  in  sculpture  over  the  por 
'ills  of  the  churches  dedicated  to  her,  as  at  Flo> 


THE    ASSUMPTION  467 

•nee.*  Slie  is  not  always  standing  and  uprigh^ 
Dut  seated  on  a  throne,  placed  within  an  aureole  of 
jght,  and  borne  by  angels,  as  over  the  door  of  the 
Campo  Santo  at  Pisa.  I  am  not  sure  that  such 
figures  are  properly  styled  the  Assumption  ;  they 
rather  exhibit  in  an  ideal  form  the  glorification  of 
the  Virgin,  another  version  of  the  same  idea  ex- 
pressed in  the  Incoronata.  She  is  here  Varia  Vir^ 
go  Assumpta,  or,  in  Italian,  L*Assunta ;  she  has 
taken  upon  her  the  glory  of  immortality,  though 
not  yet  crowned. 

But  when  the  Assumption  is  presented  to  us  as 
the  final  scene  of  her  life,  and  expresses,  as  it  were, 
a  progressive  action  —  when  she  has  left  the  empty 
tomb,  and  the  wondering,  weeping  apostles  on  the 
earth  below,  and  rises  "  like  the  morning  "  ("  quasi 
aurora  surgens")  from  the  night  of  the  grave, — 
then  we  have  the  Assumption  of  the  Virgin  in  its 
dramatic  and  historical  form,  the  final  act  and  con- 
summation of  her  visible  and  earthly  life.  As  the 
Church  had  never  settled  in  what  manner  she  was 
translated  into  heaven,  only  pronouncing  it  heresy 
to  doubt  the  fact  itself,  the  field  was  in  great  measure 
left  open  to  the  artists.  The  tomb  below,  the  fig- 
ure, of  the  Virgin  floating  in  mid-air,  and  the  open- 
ing heavens  above,  such  is  the  general  conception 
fixed  by  the  traditions  of  art ;  but  to  give  some  idea 
of  the  manner  in  which  this  has  been  varied,  I  shaU 
describe  a  few  examples. 

1    Giunta  Pisano,  1230.     (Assisi,  S.  Franoesa) 

♦  The  "  Santa  Maria  del  Fiore,    —  the  Duomo> 


468  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MADONNA. 

Christ  and  the  Virgin  ascend  together  in  a  seated 
ittitude  upborne  by  clouds  and  surrounded  by 
angels ;  his  arm  is  round  her.  The  empty  tomb, 
with  the  apostles  and  others,  below.  The  idea  is 
here  taken  from  the  Canticles  (ch.  viii.),  "  Who  i% 
this  that  ariseth  from  the  wilderness  leaning  upon 
her  beloved  ?  " 

2.  Andrea  Orcagna,  1359.  (Bas-relief,  Or^San- 
Michele,  Florence.)  The  Virgin  Mary  is  seated 
on  a  rich  throne  within  the  Mandorla,  which  is 
borne  upwards  by  four  angels,  while  two  are  play- 
ing on  musical  instruments.  Immediately  below 
the  Virgin,  on  the  right,  is  the  figure  of  St. 
Thomas,  with  hands  outstretched,  receiving  the 
mystic  girdle ;  below  is  the  entombment ;  Mary 
lies  extended  on  a  pall  above  a  sarcophagus.  In 
the  centre  stands  Christ,  holding  in  his  arms  the 
emancipated  soul ;  he  is  attended  by  eight  angels. 
St.  John  is  at  the  head  of  the  Virgin,  and  near  him 
an  angel  swings  a  censer;  St.  James  bends  and 
kisses  her  hand  ;  St.  Peter  reads  as  usual ;  and  the 
other  apostles  stand  round,  with  Dionysius,  Timo- 
thy, and  Hierotheus,  distinguished  from  the  apos- 
tles by  wearing  turbans  and  caps.  The  whole 
most  beautifully  treated. 

I  have  been  minutely  exact  in  describing  the 
details  of  this  composition,  because  i1  will  be  useful 
as  a  key  to  many  others  of  the  early  Tuscan  school, 
both  in  sculpture  and  painting ;  for  example,  the 
fine  bas-relief  by  Nanni  over  the  south  door  of  th« 
Duomo  at  Florence,  represents  St.  Thomas  in  th« 


THE   LEGEND   OF    THE   GIRDLE.  469 

lame  manner  kneeling  outside  the  aureole  and  re» 
ceiving  the  girdle;  but  the  entombment  below  is 
omitted.  These  sculptures  were  executed  at  the 
time  when  the  enthusiasm  for  the  Sacratissima 
Sintola  della  Madonna  prevailed  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  Tuscany,  and  Prato  hai 
become  a  place  of  pilgrimage. 

This  story  of  the  Girdle  was  one  of  the  legends 
imported  from  the  East.  It  had  certainly  a  Greek 
origin ;  *  and,  according  to  the  Greek  formula,  St. 
Thomas  is  to  be  figured  apart  in  the  clouds,  on  the 
right  of  the  Virgin,  and  in  the  act  of  receiving  the 
girdle.  Such  is  the  approved  arrangement  till  the 
end  of  the  fourteenth  century  ;  afterwards  we  find 
St.  Thomas  placed  below  among  the  other  apostles. 


THE   LEGEND   OF   THE   HOLY   GIRDLE. 

An  account  of  the  Assumption  would  be  imper- 
fect without  some  notice  of  the  western  legend, 
which  relates  the  subsequent  history  of  the  Girdle, 
and  its  arrival  in  Italy,  as  represented  in  the  fres- 
eoes  of  Agnolo  Gaddi  at  Prato.f 

The  chapel  della  Sacratissima  Cintola  was 
erected  from  the  designs  of  Giovanni  Pisano  about 
1820.     This  "most  sacred"  relic  had  long  been 

♦  It  may  be  found  in  the  Greek  Menologium,  iii.  p.  225 

t  Notizie  istoriche  intomo  alia  sacratissima  Cintola  di  Mmm 

fergine^  che  si  conserva  neUa  Cittd  di  Prato  4al  DoUore  CHHf 

^tppt  BUmchini  di  Prato,  1795. 


170  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MADONNA. 

deposited  under  the  high  altar  of  the  principal 
chapel,  and  held  in  great  veneration ;  but  in  the 
year  1312,  a  native  of  Prato,  whose  name  was 
Musciatino,  conceived  the  idea  of  carrying  it  off, 
and  selling  it  in  Florence.  The  attempt  was  dis- 
covered; the  unhappy  thief  suffered  a  cruel  death; 
and  the  people  of  Prato  resolved  to  provide  for 
the  future  custody  of  the  precious  relic  a  new  and 
inviolable  shrine. 

The  chapel  is  in  the  form  of  a  parallelogram, 
three  sides  of  which  are  painted,  the  other  being 
separated  from  the  choir  by  a  bronze  gate  of  most 
exquisite  workmanship,  designed  by  Ghiberti,  or, 
as  others  say,  by  Brunelleschi,  and  executed  partly 
by  Simone  Donatello. 

On  the  wall,  to  the  left  as  we  enter,  is  a  series 
of  subjects  from  the  Life  of  the  Virgin,  beginning, 
as  usual,  with  the  Rejection  of  Joachim  from  the 
temple,  and  ending  with  the  Nativity  of  our  Sav- 
iour. 

The  end  of  the  chapel  is  filled  up  by  the  As- 
sumption of  the  Virgin,  the  tomb  being  seen  below, 
surrounded  by  the  apostles ;  and  above  it  the  Vir- 
gin, as  she  floats  into  heaven,  is  in  the  act  of 
loosening  her  girdle,  which  St.  Thomas,  devoutly 
kneeling,  stretches  out  his  arms  to  receive.  Abovt 
this,  a  circular  window  exhibits,  in  stained  glass 
the  Coronation  of  the  Virgin,  surrounded  by  $ 
glory  of  angels. 

On  the  third  wall  to  the  right  we  have  the  sul)6e 
inent  History  of  the  Girdle,  in  six  compartmer  ta. 


THE   LEGEND   OF   THE   GIRDLE.  47| 

St.  Thomas,  on  the  eve  of  his  departure  to  fulfil 
*is  mission  as  apostle  in  .he  far  East,  intrusts  the 
precious  girdle  to  the  care  of  one  of  his  disciples, 
who  receives  it  from  his  hands  in  an  ecstasy  of 
amazement  and  devotion. 

The  deposit  remains,  for  a  thousand  years, 
shrouded  from  the  eyes  of  the  profane ;  and  the 
next  scene  shows  us  the  manner  in  which  it 
reached  the  city  of  Prato.  A  certain  Michael  of 
the  Dogomari  family  in  Prato,  joined,  with  a  party 
of  his  young  townsmen,  the  crusade  in  1096.  But, 
instead  of  returning  to  his  native  country  after  the 
war  was  over,  this  same  Michael  took  up  the  trade 
of  a  merchant,  travelling  from  land  to  land  in  pur- 
suit of  gain,  until  he  came  to  the  city  of  Jerusalem, 
and  lodged  in  the  house  of  a  Greek  priest,  to  whom 
the  custody  of  the  sacred  relic  had  descended  from 
a  long  line  of  ancestry ;  and  this  priest,  according 
to  the  custom  of  the  oriental  church,  was  married, 
and  had  "one  fair  daughter,  and  no  more,  the 
which  he  loved  passing  well,"  so  well,  that  he  had 
intrusted  to  her  care  the  venerable  girdle.  Now 
it  chanced  that  Michael,  lodging  in  the  same  house, 
became  enamoured  of  the  maiden,  and  not  being 
able  to  obtain  the  consent  of  her  father  to  their 
marriage,  he  had  recourse  to  the  mother,  who, 
moved  by  the  tears  and  entreaties  of  the  daughter, 
iot  only  permitted  their  union,  but  bestowed  on 
ner  the  girdle  as  a  dowry,  and  assisted  the  young 
overs  in  their  flight. 

In  accordance  with  this  storj ,  we  have,  in  the 


178  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MADONNA. 

lliird  compartment,  the  Marriage  of  Michael  with 
the  Eastern  Maiden,  and  then  the  Voyage  from 
the  Holy  Lan(i  to  the  Shores  of  Tuscany.  On  the 
deck  of  the  vessel,  and  at  the  foot  of  the  mast,  ia 
placed  the  casket  containing  the  relic,  to  which  the 
mariners  attribute  their  prosperous  voyage  to  the 
shores  of  Italy.  Then  Michael  is  seen  disembark- 
mg  at  Pisa,  and,  with  his  casket  reverently  caiv 
ried  in  his  hands,  he  reenters  the  paternal  maa 
sion  in  the  city  of  Prato. 

Then  we  have  a  scene  of  wonder.  Michael  is 
extended  on  his  bed  in  profound  sleep.  An  angel 
at  his  head,  and  another  at  his  feet,  are  about  to 
iift  him  up ;  for,  says  the  story,  Michael  was  so 
jealous  of  his  treasure,  that  not  only  he  kindled  a 
lamp  every  night  in  its  honour,  but,  fearing  he 
should  be  robbed  of  it,  he  placed  it  under  his  bed, 
which  action,  though  suggested  by  his  profound 
sense  of  its  value,  offended  his  guardian  angels, 
who  every  night  lifted  him  from  his  bed  and  placed 
him  on  the  bare  earth,  which  nightly  infliction  this 
pious  man  endured  rather  than  risk  the  loss  of  his 
invaluable  rehc.  But  after  some  years  Michael 
fell  sick  and  died. 

In  the  last  compartment  we  have  the  scene  ot 
his  death.  The  bishop  Uberto  kneels  at  his  side, 
and  receives  from  him  the  sacred  girdle,  with  a 
solemn  injunction  to  preserve  it  in  the  cathedral 
church  of  the  city,  and  to  present  it  from  time  to 
ime  for  the  veneration  of  the  people,  which  in 
junction  Uberto  most  piously  fulfilled ;  and  we  se<^ 


THE   LEGEND   OF   THE   GIRDLE.  47S 

him  carrying  it,  attended  by  priests  bearing  torch- 
es, in  solemn  procession  to  the  chapel,  in  which  it 
has  ever  since  remained. 

Agnolo  Gaddi  was  but  a  second-rate  artist,  even 
for  his  time,  yet  these  frescoes,  in  spite  of  the  fee- 
bleness and  general  inaccuracy  of  the  drawing,  are 
attractive  from  a  certain  naive  grace ;  and  the  ro- 
mantic and  curious  details  of  the  legend  have  lent 
them  so  much  of  interest,  that,  as  Lord  Lindsay 
lays,  "  when  standing  on  the  spot  one  really  feeli 
indisposed  for  criticism."  * 

The  exact  date  of  the  frescoes  executed  by  Ag- 
nolo Gaddi  is  not  known,  but,  according  to  Vasari, 
he  was  called  to  Prato  after  1348.  An  inscrip- 
tion in  the  chapel  refers  them  to  the  year  1390,  a 
date  too  late  to  be  relied  on.  The  story  of  Mi- 
chele  di  Prato  I  have  never  seen  elsewhere ;  but 
just  as  the  vicinity  of  Cologne,  the  shrine  of  the 
*'  Three  Kings,"  had  rendered  the  Adoration  of 
the  Magi  one  of  the  popular  themes  in  early  Ger- 

*  M.  Rio  is  more  poetical.  "  CJomme  j'entendais  raconter  cette 
I6gende  pour  la  premiere  fois,  il  me  semblait  que  le  tableau  r^- 
fl6chissait  une  partie  de  la  poesie  qu'elle  renferme.  Get  amouar 
d'outre  mer  mfele  aux  aventures  cheraleresques  d'une  croisade, 
cette  relique  precieuse  donnee  pour  dot  ^i  une  pauvre  fille,  la 
devotion  des  deux  6poux  pour  ce  gage  rev6re  de  leur  bonheur, 
W»ur  depart  clandestin,  leur  navigation  prosp6re  avec  des  dau- 
puu^t)  4ui  leur  font  cortege  k  la  surface  des  eaux,  leur  arrivee  ft 
^rato  et  les  miracles  repetes  qui,  join*jS  k  une  maladle  mortelle, 
nrrac^hrent  enfin  de  la  bouche  du  moribond  une  declaration 
publique  k  la  suite  de  laquelle  la  ceinture  sacree  fut  d6pos6e  danf 
la  cath^drale,  tout  ce  melange  de  passion  romanesque  et  de  pi6t< 
ta'i'Te,  ayait  efface  pour  moi  les  imperfections  techniques  qui  an 
ident  pu  frapper  une  observateui  de  sang-froid." 


4  74  LEGENDS    OF    THE    MADONNA 

man  and  Flemish  art ;  so  the  vicinity  of  Prato  ren- 
iered  the  legend  of  St.  Thomas  a  favourite  theme 
of  the  Florentine  school,  and  introduced  it  wher 
ever  the  influence  of  that  school  had  extended. 
The  fine  fresco  by  Mainardi,  in  the  Baroncelli 
Chapel,  is  an  instance;  and  I  must  cite  one  yet 
finer,  that  by  Ghirlandajo  in  the  choir  of  S.  Maria- 
Novella:  in  this  last-mentioned  example,  the  Vir- 
gin stands  erect  in  star-bespangled  drapery  and 
closely  veiled. 

We  now  proceed  to  other  examples  of  the  treat- 
meuc  of  the  Assumption. 

5.  Taddeo  Bartoli,  1413.  He  has  represented 
thtt  moment  in  which  the  soul  is  reunited  to  the 
body.  Clothed  in  a  starry  robe  she  appears  in  the 
very  act  and  attitude  of  one  rising  up  from  a  re- 
clining position,  which  is  most  beautifully  express- 
ed, as  if  she  were  partly  lifted  up  upon  the  ex- 
panded many-coloured  wings  of  a  cluster  of  angels, 
and  partly  drawn  up,  as  it  were,  by  the  attractive 
power  of  Christ,  who,  floating  above  her,  takes  her 
clasped  hands  in  both  his.  The  intense,  yet  tender 
ecstasy  in  her  face,  the  mild  spiritual  benignity  in 
Ms^  are  quite  indescribable,  and  fix  the  picture  in 
the  heart  and  the  memory  as  one  of  the  finest  relig- 
aoas  conceptions  extant.    (Siena,  Palazzo  PubHco.) 

I  imagine  this  action  of  Christ  taking  her  hands 
in  both  his,  must  be  founded  on  some  ancient 
Greek  model,  for  I  have  seen  the  same  motif  in 
other  pictures,  German  and  Itahan ;  but  in  nont 
•o  tenderly  or  so  happily  expressed. 


THE   ASSUMPTION.  475 

4:  Domenlco  di  Bartolo,  1430.  A  large  altar- 
piece.  Mary  seated  on  a  throne,  within  a  glory  of 
encircling  cherubim  of  a  glowing  red,  and  aboux 
thirty  more  angels,  some  adoring,  others  playing  on 
musical  instruments,  is  borne  upwards.  Her  hands 
are  joined  in  prayer,  her  head  veiled  and  crowned, 
and  she  wears  a  white  robe,  embroidered  with  gold- 
en flowers.  Above,  in  the  opening  heaven,  is  the 
.  figure  of  Christ,  young  and  beardless  (a  Vantique)j 
with  outstretched  arms,  surrounded  by  the  spirits 
of  the  blessed.  Below,  of  a  diminutive  size,  as  if 
Been  from  a  distant  height,  is  the  tomb  surrounded 
by  the  apostles,  St.  Thomas  holding  the  girdle. 
This  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  and  important 
pictures  of  the  Siena  school,  out  of  Siena,  with 
which  I  am  acquainted.     (Berlin  Gal.,  1122.) 

5.  Ghirlandajo,  1475.  The  Vir^n  stands  m 
Btar-spangled  drapery,  with  a  long  white  veil,  and 
hands  joined,  as  she  floats  upwards.  She  is  sus- 
tjdned  by  four  seraphim.  (Florence,  S.  Maria-No- 
vella.) 

6.  Raphael,  1516.  The  Virgin  is  seated  within 
the  horns  of  a  crescent  moon,  her  hands  joined. 
On  each  side  an  angel  stands  bearing  a  flaming 
toich  ;  the  empty  tomb  and  the  eleven  apostles  be- 
low. This  composition  is  engraved  after  Raphael 
by  an  anonymous  master  (JL,e  Maitre  au  de).  It  is 
majestic  and  graceful,  but  peculiar  for  the  time. 
The  two  angels,  or  rather  genii,  bearing  torches  on 
each  side.  Impart  to  the  whole  something  of  the  aif 
if  a  heathen  apotheosis. 


476^  LEGENDS    OF    THE   MADONNA. 

^  7  Albert  Durer.  The  apostles  kneel  or  stand 
round  the  empty  tomb ;  while  Mary,  soaring  up* 
wards,  is  received  into  heaven  by  her  Son  ;  an  an- 
gel on  each  side. 

8.  Gaudenzio  Ferrari,  1525.  Mary,  in  a  white 
robe  spangled  with  stars,  rises  upwards  as  if  cleav- 
ing the  air  in  an  erect  position,  with  her  hands  ex- 
tended, but  not  raised,  and  a  beautiful  expression 
of  mild  rapture,  as  if  uttering  the  words  attributed 
to  her,  "  My  heart  is  ready ;  "  many  angels,  some 
of  whom  bear  tapers,  around  her.  One  angel  pre- 
sents the  end  of  the  girdle  to  St.  Thomas;  the 
other  apostles  and  the  empty  tomb  lower  down. 
(Vercelli,  S.  Cristoforo.) 

9.  Correggio.  Cupola  of  the  Duomo  at  Parma, 
1530.  This  is,  perhaps,  one  of  the  earliest  instances 
of  the  Assumption  applied  as  a  grand  piece  of  sce- 
nic decoration ;  at  all  events  we  have  nothing  in 
this  luxuriant  composition  of  the  solemn  simplicity 
of  the  older  conception.  In  the  highest  part  of  the 
Cupola,  where  the  strongest  light  falls,  Christ,  a  vi- 
olently foreshortened  figure,  precipitates  himself 
downwards  to  meet  the  ascending  Madonna,  who, 
reclining  amid  clouds,  and  surrounded  by  an  innu« 
anerable  company  of  angels,  extends  her  arms  tow- 
ards him.  One  glow  of  heavenly  rapture  is  dif 
"used  over  all ;  but  the  scene  is  vast,  confused 
almost  tumultuous.  Below,  all  round  the  dome,  at 
if  standing  on  a  balcony,  appear  the  apostles. 

10.  Titian,  1540  (about).  In  the  Assumption  at 
Veni  le,  a  picture  of  world-wide  celebrity,  and,  in 


THE    ASSUMPTION.  477 

its' way,  of  unequalled  beauty,  we  have  another  sig- 
nal departure  from  all  the  old  traditions.  The  no- 
ble figure  of  the  Virgin  in  a  flood  of  golden  light  is 
borne,  or  rather  impelled,  upwards  with  such  ra- 
pidity, that  her  veil  and  drapery  are  disturbed  by 
the  motion.  Her  feet  are  uncovered,  a  circum- 
stance inadmissible  in  ancientart;  and  her  dra- 
pery, instead  of  being  white,  is  of  the  usual  blue  and 
crimson,  her  appropriate  colours  in  life.  Her  atti- 
tude, with  outspread  arms  —  her  face,  not  indeed 
a  young  or  lovely  face,  but  something  far  better, 
sublime  and  powerful  in  the  expression  of  rapture 

—  the  divinely  beautiful  and  childish,  yet  devout, 
unearthly  little  angels  around  her  —  the  grand  apos- 
tles below  —  and  the  splendour  of  colour  over  all 

—  render  this  picture  an  enchantment  at  once  to 
the  senses  and  the  imagination  ;  to  me  the  effect 
was  like  music. 

11.  Palma  Vecchio,  1535.  (Venice  Acad.) 
The  Virgin  looks  down,  not  upwards,  as  is  usu- 
al, and  is  in  the  act  of  taking  off  her  girdle  to  be- 
Btow  it  on  St.  Thomas,  who,  with  ten  other  apos- 
tles, stands  below. 

12.  Annibale  Caracci,  1600.  (Bologna  Gal.) 
The  Virgin  amid  a  crowd  of  youthful  angels,  and 
iustained  by  clouds,  is  placed  across  the  picture 
with  extended  arms.  Below  is  the  tomb  (of  sculp- 
tured marble)  and  eleven  apostles,  one  of  whom, 
with  an  astonished  air,  hfts  from  the  sepulchre  a 
handful  of  roses.  There  i?  another  picture  won- 
ilerfiilly  fine   in   the   same  style  by  Agostino   Ca- 

31 


478  LEGENDS   CF    THE   MADONNA. 

racci.  This  fashion  of  varying  the  attitude  of  the 
Virgin  was  carried  in  the  later  schools  to  every  ex- 
cess of  affectation.  In  a  picture  by  Lanfranco,  she 
cleaves  the  air  like  a  swimmer,  which  is  detesta- 
ble. 

13.  Rubens  painted  at  least  twelve  Assumptions 
with  characteristic  verve  and  movement.  Some  of 
these,  if  not  very  solemn  or  poetical,  convey  very 
happily  the  idea  of  a  renovated  life.  The  largest 
and  most  splendid  as  a  scenic  composition  is  in  the 
Musee  at  Brussels.  More  beautiful,  and,  indeed, 
quite  unusually  poetical  for  Rubens,  is  the  small 
Assumption  in  the  Queen's  Gallery,  a  finished 
sketch  for  the  larger  picture.  The  majestic  Vir- 
gin, arrayed  in  white  and  blue  drapery,  rises  with 
outstretched  arms,  surrounded  by  a  choir  of  angels ; 
below,  the  apostles  and  the  women  either  follow 
with  upward  gaze  the  soaring  ecstatic  figure,  or 
look  with  surprise  at  the  flowers  which  spring  with- 
in the  empty  tomb. 

In  another  Assumption  by  Rubens,  one  of  the 
women  exhibits  the  miraculous  flowers  in  her 
apron,  or  in  a  cloth,  I  forget  which ;  but  the  whole 
conception,  like  too  many  of  his  religious  subjects, 
borders  on  the  vulgar  and  familiar. 

14.  Guido,  as  it  is  well  known,  excelled  in  this 
fine  subject,  —  1  mean,  according  to  the  taste  and 
manner  of  his  time  and  school.  His .  ascending 
Madonnas  have  a  sort  of  aerial  elegance,  which  la 
very  attractive ;  but  they  are  too  nymph-like.  We 
must  be  careful  to  distinguish  in  his  pictures  (and 


THE  ASSUMPTION.  47$ 

all  similar  pictures  painted  after  1615)  between 
the  Assumption  and  the  Immaculate  Conception ; 
it  is  a  difference  in  sentiment  which  I  have  al- 
ready pointed  out.  The  small  finished  sketch  by 
Guido  in  our  National  Gallery  is  an  Assumption 
and  Coronation  together :  the  Madonna  is  received 
into  heaven  as  Regina  Angelorum,  The  fine 
large  Assumption  in  the  Munich  Gallery  may  be 
regarded  as  the  best  example  of  Guido's  manner 
of  treating  this  theme.  His  picture  in  the  Bridge- 
water  Gallery,  often  styled  an  Assumption,  is  an 
Immaculate   Conception. 

The  same  observations  would  apply  to  Poussin, 
with,  however,  more  of  majesty.  His  Vir^ns  are 
usually  seated  or  reclining,  and  in  general  we 
have  a  fine  landscape  beneath. 

The  Assumption,  like  the  Annunciation,  the  Na- 
tivity, and  other  historical  themes,  may,  through 
ideal  accessories,  assume  a  purely  devotional  form. 
It  ceases  then  to  be  a  fact  or  an  event,  and  becomes 
a  vision  or  a  mystery,  adored  by  votaries,  to  which 
attendant  saints  bear  witness.  Of  this  style  of 
treatment  there  are  many  beautiful  examples. 

1.  Early  Florentine,  about  1450.  (Coll.  of  Ful- 
ler Maitland,  Esq.)  The  Virgin,  seated,  elegantly 
draped  in  white,  and  with  pale-blue  ornaments  in 
her  hair,  rises  within  a  glory  sustained  by  six  an- 
gels; below  is  the  tomb  full  of  flowers,  and  in 
front,  kneeling,  St.  Francis  and  St.  Jerome. 

2-  Ambrogio  Borgognone^  1500.    (Milan,  Brera.) 


480      LEGENDS  OF  THE  MADONNA. 

She  stands,  floating  upwards  in  a  fine  attitude 
two  angels  crown  her ;  others  sustain  her ;  others 
sound  their  trumpets.  Below  are  the  apostles  and 
empty  tomb ;  at  each  side,  St.  Ambrose  and  St 
Augustine;  behind  them,  St.  Cosimo  and  St.  Da- 
mian ;  the  introduction  of  these  saintiy  apotheca- 
ries stamps  the  picture  as  an  ex-voto  —  perhaps 
against  the  plague.  It  is  very  fine,  expressive, 
and  curious. 

8.  F.  Granacci,  1530.*  The  Virgin,  ascending 
in  glory,  presents  her  girdle  to  St.  Thomas,  who 
kneels;  on  each  side,  standing  as  witnesses,  St 
John  the  Baptist,  as  patron  of  Florence,  St  Lau- 
rence, as  patron  of  Lorenzo  de*  Medici,  and  the 
two  aposties,  St  Bartholomew  and  St.  James. 

4.  Andrea  del  Sarto,  1520.  (Florence,  Pitti 
Pal.)  She  is  seated  amid  vapoury  clouds,  arrayed 
in  white :  on  each  side  adoring  angels ;  below,  the 
tomb  with  the  apostles,  a  fine  solemn  group ;  and 
in  front,  St  l^cholas,  and  that  interesting  penitent 
saint,  St.  Margaret  of  Cortona.  (Legends  of  the 
Monastic  Orders.)  The  head  of  the  Virgin  is  the 
likeness  of  Andrea's  infamous  wife ;  otherwise  this 
is  a  magnificent  picture. 


The  Coronation  of  the  Virgin  follows  the 
Assumption.    In  some  instanco«,  this  final  consum« 
mation  of  her  glorious  destiny  supersedes,  or  rather 
includes,  her  ascension  into  heaven. 
•  Ik  tbe  Oaaa  Buccellai.  ( 7)  Engrayed  in  the  JEitrMrMi  J^lrift. 


THE   CORONATION.  48  i 

A»  1  have  already  observed,  it  is  necessary  to 
diatinguish  this  scenic  Coronation  from  the  mysti- 
cal Incoronata,  properly  so  called,  which  is  the 
ftriumph  of  the  allegorical  church,  and  altogether 
an  allegorical  and  devotional  theme ;  whereas,  the 
scenic  Coronation  is  the  last  event  in  a  series  of 
the  Life  of  the  Virgin.  Here  we  have  before  us, 
not  merely  the  court  of  heaven,  ita  argent  fields 
peopled  with  celestial  spirits,  and  the  sublime  per- 
sonification of  the  glorified  Church  exhibited  as  a 
vision,  and  quite  apart  from  all  real,  all  human 
associations ;  but  we  have  rather  the  triumph  of 
the  human  mother; — the  lowly  woman  lifted  into 
immortalit}'.  The  earth  and  its  sepulchre,  the 
bearded  apostles  beneath,  show  us  that,  like  her 
Son,  she  has  a,scended  into  glory  by  the  dim  portal 
of  the  grave,  and  entered  into  felicity  by  the  path 
of  pain.  Her  Son,  next  to  whom  she  has  taken 
her  seat,  has  himsef  wiped  the  tears  from  her  eyes, 
and  set  the  resplendent  crown  upon  her  head ;  the 
Father  blesses  her ;  the  Holy  Spirit  bears  witness ; 
chsrubim  and  seraphim  welcome  her,  and  salute 
ber  as  their  queen.     So  Dante, — 

"  At  their  joy 
And  carol  smiles  the  Lovely  One  of  heaven. 
That  joy  is  in  the  eyes  of  all  the  blest." 

Thus,  then,  we  must  distinguish :  — 

1.  The  Coronation  of  the  Virgin  is  a  strictly  de« 
YOtional  subject  where  she  is  attended,  not  merely 
bj  angels  and  patriarchs,  but  by  canonized  saints 


482  LEGENDS    OF    THE   MAEONNA. 

and  martyrs,  by  fathers  and  doctors  of  the  Chxirch, 
heads  of  religious  orders  in  monkish  dresses,  patroni 
and  votaries. 

2.  It  is  a  dramatic  and  historical  subject  when  it 
is  the  last  scene  in  a  series  of  the  Life  of  the  Vir- 
gin ;  when  the  death-bed,  or  the  tomb,  or  the  won- 
dering apostles,  and  weeping  women,  are  figured  on 
the  earth  below. 

Of  the  former  treatment,  I  have  spoken  at 
length.  It  is  that  most  commonly  met  with  in 
early  pictures  and  altar-pieces. 

With  regard  to  the  historical  treatment,  it  is 
more  rare  as  a  separate  subject,  but  there  are  some 
celebrated  examples  both  in  church  decoration 
and  in  pictures. 

1.  In  the  apsis  of  the  Duomo  at  Spoleto,  we  have, 
below,  the  death  of  the  Virgin  in  the  usual  man- 
ner, that  is,  the  Byzantine  conception  treated  in 
the  Italian  style,  with  Christ  receiving  her  soul,  and 
over  it  the  Coronation.  The  Virgin  kneels  in  a 
white  robe,  spangled  with  golden  flowers ;  and 
Christ,  who  is  here  represented  rather  as  the 
Father  than  the  Son,  crowns  her  as  queen  of 
heaven. 

2.  The  composition  by  Albert  Durer,  which  con- 
cludes his  fine  series  of  wood-cuts,  the  "  Life  of  the 
Virgin  "  is  very  grand  and  singular.  On  the  e£irth 
IS  the  empty  tomb ;  near  it  the  bier ;  around  stand 
the  twelve  apostles,  all  looking  up  amazed.  There 
is  no  allusion  to  the  girdle,  which,  indeed,  is  sel- 
dom  found  in  northern  art     Above,  the  Virgii 


THE   CORONATION.  485 

floating  in  the  air,  with  the  rainbow  nnder  her  feet, 
is  crowned  by  the  Father  and  the  Son,  while  over 
her  head  hovers  the  holy  Dove. 

3.  In  the  Vatican  is  the  Coronation  attributed  to 
Raphael.  That  he  designed  the  cartoon,  and  be- 
gan the  altar-piece,  for  the  nuns  of  Monte-Luce 
near  Perugia,  seems  beyond  all  doubt;  but  it  ii 
equally  certain  that  the  picture  as  we  see  it  was 
painted  almost  entirely  by  his  pupils  Giulo  Romano 
and  Gian  Francesco  Penni.  Here  we  have  the  tomb 
below,  filled  with  flowers ;  and  around  it  the  twelve 
apostles  ;  John  and  his  brother  James,  in  front,  look- 
ing up ;  behind  John,  St.  Peter ;  more  in  the  back- 
ground, St.  Thomas  holds  the  girdle.  Above  is  the 
throne  set  in  heaven,  whereon  the  Virgin,  mild  and 
beautiful,  sits  beside  her  divine  Son,  and  with 
joined  hands,  and  veiled  head,  and  eyes  meekly  cast 
down,  bends  to  receive  the  golden  coronet  he  is 
about  to  place  on  her  brow.  The  Dove  is  omitted, 
but  eight  seraphim,  with  rainbow-tinted  wings, 
hover  above  her  head.  On  the  right,  a  most  grace- 
ful angel  strikes  the  tambourme;  on  the  left,  an- 
other, equally  graceful,  sounds  the  viol;  and, 
amidst  a  flood  of  light,  hosts  of  celestial  and  re- 
joicing spirits  fill  up  the  background. 

Thus,  in  highest  heaven,  yet  not  out  of  siglat 
of  earth,  in  beatitude  past  utterance,  in  blessed 
fruition  of  all  that  faith  creates  and  love  desirea, 
amid  angel  hymns  and  starry  glories,  ends  the  pii#- 
lured  life  of  Mary,  Mother  of  our  Lord. 


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U.C.  BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 

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